Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998 | 5:46 a.m.
In the tense hours that followed, the FBI, with the informant's help, secretly recorded a phone call, tailed the men by ground and air, briefly lost them in the desert darkness, then ultimately arrested them Wednesday night at a suburban laboratory.
On Thursday afternoon, Larry Wayne Harris, 46, described by the FBI as an Ohio white supremacist who spoke of plans to unleash a deadly biological agent on a New York subway, and William Job Leavitt Jr., 47, a Nevada man said to own laboratories, appeared in federal court on charges of possessing a biological agent for use as a weapon.
Nevada's FBI Special Agent in Charge Bobby L. Siller said authorities acted aggressively on the tip from the informant because of the potentially severe danger from anthrax, which can be used in germ warfare and can kill people who aren't vaccinated.
"Within 12 hours after receiving information that these two individuals had a dangerous biological agent, we resolved this issue," Siller said. "Our primary concern was the safety of the community."
According to an affidavit attached to the criminal complaint, the informant, who wasn't identified, first met Harris at a Denver science convention last August, and met Leavitt about six weeks ago. The three were working on a project to test a device to supposedly "deactivate" viruses and bacteria, the affidavit says.
The men also had contacted the source "some time ago" about testing E. coli and Bacillus subtilis bacteria, and on Tuesday told the source they had other organisms to test, including Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus Anthracis, the FBI said.
The men contacted the source on Wednesday to ask him if they could use some of his equipment to test vials of anthrax bacteria, according to the affidavit. The source was not to be present at the time, the FBI said. The source made arrangements to meet with the men later Wednesday and at some point called the FBI, agreeing to cooperate.
The FBI confirmed the source's claims to be a research scientist, specializing in cancer research. The source had two felony convictions for conspiracy to commit extortion in 1981 and 1981, but the FBI said there was no deal cut for his cooperation.
"It appears that his providing information to the FBI was done simply as a citizen performing his civic duty," said the affidavit, written by Special Agent John H. Hawken.
The FBI also looked into Harris' past and found out he was on probation for a 1995 felony conviction for wire fraud for obtaining bubonic plague toxins, which he obtained by mail and carried in his car's glove compartment.
The FBI says it found Harris is a "self-admitted member of the Aryan Nations, and claims to have the rank of lieutenant-colonel" who disclosed plans last summer - around the time he met the source in Denver - for an attack on the New York subway system with the bacteria that causes bubonic plague.
On Wednesday afternoon, the source told the FBI that the meeting with Harris and Leavitt occurred at about noon that day, and that Leavitt told the source he had "military grade" anthrax in flight bags in the trunk of a Mercedes registered to a Gary M. Gerwin of Palm Springs, Calif.
The source saw in the trunk eight to 10 black leather flight bags marked with "Biological," the FBI said.
After that meeting, the FBI recorded a 3:15 p.m. phone call from Leavitt to the source. Leavitt called to set up 7 p.m. meeting at a local restaurant so the source could provide the testing equipment, the FBI said.
At 6:30 p.m., FBI agents on surveillance watched Leavitt and Harris leave Room 921 of the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino west of The Strip, the FBI said. Leavitt was carrying a white Styrofoam cooler, which he put in the Mercedes trunk, the FBI said.
Leavitt and Harris were accompanied by a third, unidentified man. Leavitt and Harris drove off in the Mercedes; the third man left in another car, the FBI said.
Leavitt and Harris arrived at the unidentified restaurant at 7:06 p.m. and met with the source outside, telling him they wanted to do the testing as quickly as possible, the FBI said.
Leavitt and Harris then left the restaurant in the Mercedes, followed by authorities on the ground and in the air. A SWAT team also followed the men.
The men were observed driving to an office complex in Henderson, Nev., just outside Las Vegas. The source also drove there.
"Agents momentarily lost sight of Leavitt and Harris in the complex," the affidavit says. "Agents then observed a person, who could not be identified because of the distance and darkness, carrying a white cooler towards Building D."
Agents descended on the building and arrested Leavitt and Harris as they left the office. Through the window, the agents could see the cooler sitting inside the office, according to the FBI.
With the consent of the building occupant, FBI agents entered the building and picked up the cooler and 40 petrie dishes from a shelf near the cooler. The source said that he had seen Leavitt take two items out of the cooler.
The Mercedes was sealed in plastic and transported to Nellis Air Force Base. FBI technicians found that material in the car appeared to be "anthrax or anthrax precursors."
Meanwhile, the FBI interviewed the third man seen with Leavitt and Harris at the hotel. It wasn't clear from the affidavit what that man's role was, if any, in the testing of the anthrax. But the man did tell agents that Harris showed him a vial wrapped in cardboard and that Harris told him it contained enough anthrax to "wipe out the city."
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