Buffalo Man Sentenced for Anthrax Mail Hoax

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Cory T. Kent, 30, of Buffalo, New York, who was convicted of perpetrating a hoax by mailing a threatening envelope, was sentenced to five months’ detention in a halfway house, followed by five months home detention, before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell T. Ippolito, who handled the sentencing, stated that on November 1, 2011, Kent placed two envelopes in a mailbox at Daemen College addressed to two large U.S. banks. When a postal carrier was emptying the contents of the mailbox, a puff of powder emanated from the envelopes. Further investigation revealed the defendant put baby powder in the two envelopes as a prank intended to “freak out” whoever opened the envelopes. Kent stated he was mailing the envelopes after watching a YouTube video from the Occupy Wall Street group that advocated mailing pre-paid envelopes received from banks back to the banks stuffed with additional items in order to increase their costs. At sentencing, Kent admitted to Judge Arcara that his actions were “idiotic.”

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota; the United States Postal Service Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Kevin Niland; the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John C. Askey; and the town of Amherst Emergency Services, under the direction of James Zymanek.