Release near for Professor in Plague Case

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Release near for professor in plague case
BY BETSY BLANEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS


A former Texas Tech professor convicted of fraud after his report of missing plague bacteria from his lab prompted a bioterrorism scare will be released from a halfway house Jan. 2, a federal prison system official said Monday.

Dr. Thomas Butler, 64, is completing his two-year sentence at an undisclosed halfway house in Lubbock, said Joe Savage, a spokesman for the Federal Medical Center Fort Worth, where Butler served until Nov. 21.

On Jan. 14, 2003, Butler reported the vials stolen. Within hours, dozens of federal agents swarmed to Lubbock and a frantic search for the vials ensued. It ended when Butler gave FBI agents a written statement in which he admitted a "misjudgment" in not telling his supervisor the vials had been "accidentally destroyed," according to court records.



The incident sparked a bioterrorism scare, and President Bush was briefed out of concern that terrorists may have been involved. During his trial, Butler testified that FBI agents forced him to make the admission to calm the public's fears.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/121305/loc_121305023.shtml