Illinois man arrested after allegedly mailing suspicious powder to members of Congress with his own return address

Matthew Unglesbee, a 36-year-old resident of Quincy, Illinois, has been arrested on suspicion of sending letters containing suspicious white powder to four members of the US Congress. Authorities say he wrote his own name and home address on the envelopes. On Tuesday he remained in the custody of US marshals, facing federal charges of perpetrating a hoax and sending threatening communications through the mail.

What the complaint says

In an eight-page criminal complaint unsealed on Monday, Charis Hobbs, a taskforce agent with the Springfield office of the FBI (the Federal Bureau of Investigation), wrote that Unglesbee admitted in an interview on Sunday that he sent the letters to the four politicians, who have not been named. He said the substance was salt, because it "kind of looks like" anthrax. Preliminary tests found no biological or chemical toxin.

Each envelope held a white granular substance and a handwritten note reading "ha ha". The letter to a US senator also read "Hah enjoy the gift".

How events unfolded

Staffers at the four Congress members' offices in northern Illinois did not open any of the envelopes. The offices had warned one another to watch for mail bearing Unglesbee's name. Staff at three offices called authorities, and on Wednesday FBI personnel trained to handle weapons of mass destruction and biochemical toxin threats were sent to them. Hazardous materials response teams also attended two of the offices.

At Unglesbee's home, FBI agents found one more envelope, empty and addressed, but not mailed, to the Washington DC office of one of the same lawmakers.

The suspect's account

He told investigators he mailed the letters after overhearing someone in a restaurant mention a news story about other letters being sent. Earlier in October, the FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service said they were investigating multiple reports of suspicious letters sent to state officials and election offices nationwide. Unglesbee denied involvement in those mailings.

According to the complaint, he said he was joking but understood the recipients would not know that and could see it as a threat. He also allegedly expected the lawmakers to "take it serious" and knew hazmat teams would have to respond.

Ryan Presley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Springfield field office, said mailing unknown substances to congressional offices creates fear and disrupts institutions vital to democracy. A detention hearing was tentatively set for Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Springfield.