Writer Of "Powder" Letters Is Arrested

Last October, someone sent a total of 65 threatening letters to eleven different states. Most of the letters went to different Chase Bank addresses, but a few went to government organizations like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Many of the letters had a white powder in them, and all of them were mailed from Amarillo, Texas.

As a resident of Amarillo, this bothered me. No one wants this kind of nut in their own town. Well, yesterday the FBI arrested the perpetrator, and much to my relief, it turns out he wasn't a resident of Amarillo after all. He lives in Tijeras, New Mexico. He just drove to Amarillo to mail the letters in an effort to fool law enforcement.

The 47 year-old man, Richard Leon Goyette, had lost about $63,000 when Washington Mutual went under and was bought out cheaply by Chase Bank. He was a victim of the foolish mismanagement that ravaged our financial system and helped to kick off the current recession. But victim or not, that doesn't excuse his terroristic actions.

He is currently charged with one count of violating federal laws regarding false information and hoaxes, although he could later be charged with 64 more charges, since each letter could be a new charge. He is being brought to Amarillo, where he will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney there.

For someone who went to great lengths to hide himself, he was caught by one stupid mistake. He had gone to Albuquerque and used the public computers (pictured above) at the University of New Mexico to get the Chase Bank and government addresses. Then he rented a car and drove to Amarillo to mail the letters. He probably thought he had covered his trail pretty well.

But while at UNM, he also sent a threatening e-mail along the lines of the letters. The FBI traced the e-mail back to the UNM computer where they found the address searches. He still might have been alright, but they found that he had checked his e-mail at yahoo.com at the same time. What a dummy!!

Oh well, I'm just glad they caught him.