- COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A federal magistrate released a man who was arrested in
the Las Vegas anthrax scare and jailed for allegedly violating his probation.
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- Larry Wayne Harris was brought from Las
Vegas, where he and another man were arrested Feb. 18 after an FBI informant
said they claimed to have deadly anthrax in their possession. He was released
Friday.
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- Charges against Harris and William Leavitt
Jr. were dismissed February 23 after tests showed the material was a harmless
anthrax veterinary vaccine.
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- Leavitt was freed but Harris was accused
of violating his probation for a 1995 conviction for illegally ordering
bubonic plague bacteria by mail.
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- Federal Magistrate Mark Abel said prosecutors
failed to show that Harris violated probation by claiming he had military-grade
anthrax and by producing infectious disease, bacteria or germs in his Ohio
home.
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- Abel said there was enough evidence to
hold a hearing on whether Harris was continuing to tell people he used
to work for the CIA, another violation of his probation. The hearing was
not scheduled.
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