July 23–NEW HAVEN, CT. — The U.S. attorney’s office has filed a federal charge against a University of Connecticut student accused of keeping anthrax in a refrigerator at a school research lab, but Tomas Foral, 26, will not be prosecuted if he completes a “pretrial diversion program,” U.S. Attorney John A. Danaher III said in a news release.
Foral was charged under the USA Patriot Act with one count of possessing a biological agent, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Danaher said he would defer prosecuting Foral and allow him to participate in a special program that will be overseen by the U.S. probation office.
Details of the program have not been worked out, but it could include community service and some type of supervision, said Delcie Thibault, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
“That could be part of it, and certain restrictions in terms of behavior could also be part of it,” she said.
If he successfully completes the program, prosecutors will recommend the charges against him be dismissed.
Thibault said the charge marked the first time the Patriot Act had been used in Connecticut.
Federal authorities began investigating after two vials of what was later determined to be anthrax were found in late November in Foral’s private freezer at UConn’s pathobiology laboratory in Storrs. The vials contained anthrax-infected tissue from a cow necropsy performed in the 1960s. The samples would have required additional processing to produce infectious spores.
Foral was told to destroy the samples after showing them to professors, but instead he kept them hidden in his personal freezer space, investigators said.
The vials were rediscovered after investigators looking into the Nov. 21 anthrax death of 94-year-old Oxford resident Ottilie Lundgren were tipped that there were anthrax samples being stored at the university.
The lab was closed for nearly two weeks while tests were conducted to make sure there was no threat of anthrax exposure. The university hired an environmental cleaning company to clean the lab around the freezers and the pathway along which they believe the anthrax was carried.
The university has not taken action against Foral, and he is scheduled to receive his master’s degree next year.
UConn spokeswoman Karen Grava would not comment on whether the university was involved in discussions with the U.S. attorney’s office.
Grava said samples of anthrax are no longer kept at the university lab for research purposes.
University officials have also created a new position of environmental manager, a rank equivalent to dean, who would help oversee health and safety issues.