MEDFORD, Ore. – A Klamath Falls man could face a decade behind bars for sending threatening cards filled with a toxic substance to former coworkers.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in December of 2019, Kelly Michael Burns, now age 71, mailed four Christmas cards to former coworkers. The letters contained a white powder pesticide, later identified as carbaryl. Obscenity-laden threats were included in the cards.
Prosecutors said three people at Burns’ former workplace were exposed to the insecticide, including a woman who was ten weeks pregnant.
A few months later, Burns’ mailed out another series of similar letters with threats directed at the victims’ families, according to the DOJ.
In March of 2020, Burns was charged for the threats. He pleaded guilty on February 8, 2021.
Burns faces a maximum sentence of up to ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of probation. He’ll be sentenced on May 6.
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