From Sam Stanton:
A new wave of letters with suspicious powder inside them were received by governors' offices in seven states Monday, but authorities say they do not appear to be related to the hoax anthrax mailings tied to a Sacramento man in late October.
The letters contained what officials believe is a harmless powder and went to governors in Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Rhode Island, the FBI said. All of them were postmarked from Dallas.
Sacramento FBI spokesman Steve Dupre said he checked with a Dallas FBI official after a Bee inquiry and that "these do not appear to be related" to the Sacramento mailings.
"It's a totally different set of circumstances," he said, adding that there was "more of an implied threat in those letters than the ones our guy sent out."
Federal officials have charged Marc M. Keyser, a 66-year-old former teacher and Sacramento resident, with sending out 120 hoax anthrax mailings nationwide that contained what turned out to be packets of sugar.
Keyser subsequently told The Bee that his actions were a warning to the government and public of the dangers faced from an actual anthrax attack.
He is free on $25,000 bail and faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
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