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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFeds: 'Breaking Bad' inspired researcher to seek poisons
The former head of advanced research at a Boston-area biotechnology company told investigators he was inspired by the television show Breaking Bad when he tried to obtain the powerful poison ricin, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Ishtiaq Ali Saaem, 37, who currently lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Boston to obstruction of justice for lying to federal authorities about his reason for purchasing castor beans, the source of ricin.
Saaem, who has a doctorate in biomedical engineering and lived in Massachusetts at the time, in 2015 ordered 100 packets, each containing eight seeds, of castor beans online, according to the U.S. attorneys office in Boston. He became interested in acquiring ricin and convallotoxin, a poison found in lily of the valley plants, after watching Breaking Bad, prosecutors said.
He told investigators he purchased castor beans because he was interested in planting them in his apartment as decoration and had only intended to purchase one packet, not 100. But after he spoke to agents, Saaem researched poisons that could be made at home, prosecutors said.
He faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for Aug. 18.
https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-boston-massachusetts-courts-obstruction-of-justice-7c74172e0267f573d510238101cc190a
pidge
(274 posts)spinbaby
(15,090 posts)Not something Id plant in an apartment because theyre huge, but caster bean plants are gorgeous tropical looking plants. Just dont plant them where children might find and eat the beans.
displacedtexan
(15,696 posts)Wasnt the ricin for Gus?