From: Eric Cordian <emc@wire.insync.net>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 13:28:06 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Jimbelling the Sheep
Message-ID: <199802210520.XAA03328@wire.insync.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



The FBI informant who orchestrated the capture of the recent "Anthrax
Terrorists" turns out to be a man twice convicted of felony extortion.
 
He presently markets something called "The AZ-58 Ray Tube Frequency
Instrument Prototype" which he advertises as being able to somehow
purify the body of bacteria and viruses.
 
Sounds like a rehash of Radionics.
 
You may view the contraption at its very own web site,
 
         http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/jmckenzie
 
-----
 
 
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Far from planning an anthrax attack, William Leavitt
Jr. was involved in a bizarre deal to buy a $2 million germ-killing
machine from an FBI informant who double-crossed him, Leavitt's
lawyers said Friday.
 
Leavitt was described by his attorneys as a well-meaning, if gullible
scientist.
 
He and Larry Wayne Harris, both microbiologists, were arrested in
suburban Henderson Wednesday outside a medical office and charged with
conspiracy to possess and possession of a biological agent.
 
His lawyers said Leavitt was operating under the assumption that what
Harris had was Anthrax vaccine, which is legal and safe.
 
The FBI was awaiting tests Friday to determine if it was vaccine or
material grade anthrax, which is potent enough to kill thousands of
people.
 
Leavitt is married with three children and runs his own
fire-protection business. The FBI says he also owns microbiological
laboratories in his hometown of Logandale, Nev., and Frankfurt,
Germany.
 
His criminal attorney, Lamond Mills, said the FBI's informant, Ronald
Rockwell, was trying to ``scam'' Leavitt into buying a germ-killing
machine.
 
``When he couldn't scam 'em, he went the other way. He became a good
guy for the FBI,'' Mills said.
 
Leavitt's business lawyer, Kirby Wells, said the machine was called
the AZ-58 Ray Tube Frequency Instrument Prototype, and was hyped by
Rockwell in glossy brochures as being able to flush the body clean of
bacteria and viruses.
 
``It looked like a bunch of bells and whistles,'' said Wells, who said
he saw a picture of the machine. ``What made my client believe there
was substance to that thing, I don't know. I wish I did.''
 
A promotion on the Internet has a bold headline: ``ANTHRAX,'' and goes
on to say the AZ-58 ``can treat large numbers of people at the same
time.''
 
``Has the greatest health discovery in history been suppressed?'' the
ad asks.
 
Leavitt was close to buying the machine in a $2 million deal, but
wanted to test it before making a $100,000 down-payment and arranged
to fly Harris to Las Vegas about a week ago to help, said Wells.
 
Leavitt believed that Harris was transporting anthrax vaccine, Mills
said. But Rockwell told the FBI that Leavitt described it as
military-grade.
 
On the''NBC Nightly News'' Friday, Rockwell reiterated that Leavitt
and Harris said they had military grade anthrax.
 
``They lied on what they were going to do,'' Rockwell said. ``It
scared me so bad.''
 
There is no phone listing for Rockwell in the Las Vegas area. His
attorney has not returned calls to The Associated Press.
 
Leavitt and Harris were arrested Wednesday night after the FBI, with
Rockwell's help, tailed the men to a medical office in suburban
Henderson. Authorities removed a cooler and petri dishes from the
office, and sealed the men's beige Mercedes in plastic before
transporting it to an Air Force base.
 
Leavitt, 47, and Harris, 46, of Lancaster, Ohio, are being held
without bond.
 
In an affidavit, the FBI said described Rockwell as a cancer research
scientist who was convicted of felony extortion in 1981 and 1982. But
the FBI has vouched for his credibility, saying he came forward
without getting a deal and was a ``citizen performing his civic
duty.''
 
Harris' attorney, Michael Kennedy, said Thursday that Rockwell's
credibility ``is something we're going to look into.''
 
It was unclear how Leavitt, a Mormon bishop with strong political
ties, got hooked up with Harris, an alleged white supremacist who has
been plugging his self-published book about germ warfare.
 
The FBI has said Harris met Rockwell last summer at a Denver science
conference, while Leavitt's attorneys said they believed Rockwell got
the men together.
 
Mills said the results of the FBI tests will determine if they remain
united in their defense. ``If the tests come back non-toxin, there is
no case,'' said Mills. ``If it comes back military grade, then whoa,
time out, that's not our fault. We separate from (Harris)
completely.''

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"