SIGHTINGS


Larry Harris Released - No Parole Violation In Anthrax Arrest

 
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.
 
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.
 
Charges against Harris and William Leavitt Jr. were dismissed February 23 after tests showed the material was a harmless anthrax veterinary vaccine.
 
Leavitt was freed but Harris was accused of violating his probation for a 1995 conviction for illegally ordering bubonic plague bacteria by mail.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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