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Pasco man arrested in anthrax scare
By JAMIE JONES and CARY DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, Donald Kalter is a 35-year-old cabinetmaker. He lives in a $146,000 pink stucco house in an immaculate, manicured neighborhood in New Port Richey. He has a "Sore Loserman" sticker, referring to Al Gore's loss in the 2000 presidential election, on the back of a four-wheel-drive Chevy pickup in his driveway. Like many of his neighbors in Crane's Roost, an American flag flies from his mailbox. Neighbors described Kalter and his wife as a quiet, friendly couple who have taken in stray cats and dogs that wandered into the neighborhood. And so neighbors said they were surprised to learn that Kalter was arrested Friday and charged with sending two powder-filled envelopes to the Hernando County Government Center and the Sheriff's Office in Brooksville, both of which were evacuated Oct. 11 after the suspicious mail arrived. Authorities initially feared the letters might contain anthrax. Hernando Sheriff Richard Nugent said his deputies, with help from other authorities, arrested Kalter at a convenience store near his house at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Nugent said Kalter, on his way to work, had a Glock 10mm semiautomatic weapon and a pistol with him. "(The hoaxes) played on our fears," Nugent said. "We've literally been responding to hundreds of people worried about suspicious mail. It's draining the resources of this department." Nugent said the prank undoubtedly fueled residents' concerns about their mail. The sheriff said that with the help of an informer, the Sheriff's Office obtained a warrant for Kalter's arrest on Thursday, but feared Kalter had weapons in his home. So deputies kept him under surveillance and confronted him Friday. Deputies said they found additional weapons in Kalter's house. Nugent said Kalter wanted to "pay back" the Sheriff's Office by sending it one of the letters. He said Kalter was arrested on charges of grand theft in August 2000 after authorities said he took several thousand dollars from residents but then did not build them any cabinets. The other envelope was addressed to Circuit Judge Daniel Merritt at the government center. Nugent said Kalter apparently mailed that letter because one of his friends was unhappy with a divorce presided over by the judge. Authorities said Kalter hoped to shut down both the Sheriff's Office and the government center for several days. They said he put talcum powder in an empty compact disk case and then put a type of spring device into each envelope, hoping the spring would cause powder to fly into the air and all over whomever opened the envelopes. Kalter addressed his letters with a black pen in writing that slightly slanted across the envelopes, authorities said. The envelopes were opened on the one-month anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A clerk in the Clerk of Circuit Court's Office was the first to open one of the envelopes and saw white powder. She became suspicious, and several hundred people were evacuated from the government center in downtown Brooksville. Later in the day, the Sheriff's Office, on the south side of Brooksville, received a similar envelope and also was evacuated. "I'm very happy they've apprehended a suspect," said County Administrator Paul McIntosh. "I think this should be a clear warning that we will take this very seriously, and we will encourage the State Attorney's Office to prosecute vigorously." McIntosh said the county is trying to tally how much the hoaxes cost taxpayers and will consider asking the court for restitution if Kalter is found guilty. Records show Kalter filed for bankruptcy last year. Authorities have no evidence that Kalter sent suspicious packages elsewhere, Nugent said. Nugent said a concerned citizen called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office after the evacuations and claimed to know who had sent the mail. Kalter had tried to persuade the person to help him send powdered letters to government offices and hospitals, but he declined, Nugent said. Hernando deputies persuaded the person to wear a wire and tape conversations in which authorities said Kalter made it obvious that he had sent the mail. "He was paying us back," Nugent said. "Those are his words." Nugent said authorities are not releasing the name of the informer because Kalter threatened to kill him if he told. Nugent said authorities are trying to obtain a $5,000 state reward for the informant for helping them in the investigation. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI aided in the investigation, Nugent said. Kalter, of 8546 Thrasher Court in New Port Richey, was charged with two counts of using a hoax weapon of mass destruction and could face up to 15 years in prison, Nugent said. He also was charged with criminally soliciting another to commit the same offense. Kalter was being held in the Hernando County Jail on Friday night. He was awaiting his first appearance before a judge.
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