FBI digs deeper into anthrax threat

Friday, Feb. 20, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.

A contrasting picture of the two suspects charged with possessing a deadly biological agent for use as a weapon surfaced today, as both men remained behind bars while federal authorities tested the substance seized from them for the presence of anthrax.

Both men -- Larry Wayne Harris, 46, of Lancaster, Ohio, and William Job Leavitt, 47, of Logandale -- appeared before U.S. Magistrate Roger Hunt Thursday, but a hearing on whether to release them on bond was delayed until Monday to give their lawyers more time to prepare.

Harris is a convicted felon and white supremacist who has a history of cultivating fatal bacteria. Leavitt is a former Mormon bishop with no criminal record who conducts biological research in Moapa Valley, a sleepy community 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Hunt ordered both men, who are microbiologists, detained over the weekend, as the dramatic 12-hour saga of how the FBI pursued and arrested the suspects unfolded in court amid a crush of local and national reporters.

At a news conference Thursday, Bobby Siller, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, said the FBI still was investigating what the suspects planned to do with the reported anthrax, the most common deadly bacteria used in biological warfare.

Agents searched the Lancaster home of Harris for four hours Thursday looking for evidence of his intentions.

Siller said the FBI, acting under the assumption the reported germs posed a significant danger to the community, moved quickly to apprehend the suspects once alerted to their activities by a "source" close to both men.

"Our primary concern was for the safety of the community," Siller told reporters.

The two men were arrested at the Royal Center for Advanced Medicine, 2501 N. Green Valley Parkway, about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, as they prepared to test the reported anthrax.

Both were charged with conspiracy to possess and possession of a biological agent for use as a weapon.

Harris, a former ranking member of the Aryan Nations white supremacist group, is on probation for a 1995 felony conviction in Ohio for fraudulently obtaining bubonic plague toxins. His case drew national attention at the time.

Last summer, according to an FBI complaint filed in Las Vegas Thursday, Harris told a group about plans to place a "globe" of bubonic plague toxins in a New York subway station. The globe, the complaint said, would be broken by a passing subway train and cause hundreds of thousands of deaths in a biological attack that would be blamed on the Iraqis.

A witness told the FBI a chilling account of a meeting with Harris and Leavitt Wednesday night at the Gold Coast hotel-casino before the duo was arrested at the Green Valley clinic.

"Harris had showed (the witness) what appeared to be a vial, which was wrapped in cardboard and stated that it contained anthrax," FBI agent John Hawken said in the five-page complaint. "Harris held the vial in his hand and further stated that there was enough there to 'wipe out the city.'"

By contrast, Leavitt was portrayed by his Las Vegas lawyers, Lamond Mills and Kirby Wells, as a "level-headed businessman" who knew nothing about the background of Harris.

Mills contended Leavitt's intentions were good, not bad. He said his client wanted to find a "miracle" vaccine for the deadly anthrax virus and was in the process of negotiating to buy equipment in that endeavor with another man who turned out to be the FBI's lead source in the case.

Leavitt had planned to hire Harris, whom Mills believed he had met about six weeks ago, as a consultant, Mills said.

"This is not a radical," Mills told reporters on the steps of the federal courthouse after Thursday's hearing. "This is not a conspiracy nut. This is not an anti-government guy."

Mills predicted the results of the government tests would vindicate his client.

"If the tests come back the way we think they will, they'll come back as a harmless vaccine for anthrax," he said. "Next case."

But in the FBI complaint, Hawken said the source indicated that Leavitt, during a noon meeting Wednesday, told him he had "military-grade" anthrax in flight bags in the trunk of a Mercedes-Benz. The car, Hawken said, is registered to Gary M. Gerwin of Palm Springs, who Social Security records show died two years ago.

In a phone conversation with the source several hours later, the complaint said, Leavitt indicated he had military-grade anthrax in a vial.

Hawken said the source had met Leavitt at a science convention in Denver about six weeks ago.

The source was described as a cancer researcher who has two felony convictions for conspiracy to commit extortion in 1981 and 1982. But the FBI said the source was not a confidential informant and was not "working off" a criminal charge.

"It appears that his providing information to the FBI was done simply as a citizen performing his civic duty," Hawken said.

Though the FBI would not identify the source, Mills said his client believes it is local scientist Roland G. Rockwell, whom Mills suggested may have been trying to dupe Leavitt into buying the testing equipment.

"I seriously question the source's claims," Mills said.

Wells said he was negotiating on Leavitt's behalf with Rockwell and his lawyer to buy the equipment.

He confirmed information Rockwell reportedly provided the FBI that Leavitt was willing to pay $2 million to $18 million for the equipment depending on how well it worked. Rockwell could not be reached for comment.

But Wells insisted the equipment was to be used in the vaccine experiments, not in any conspiracy to harm people.

The FBI said in its complaint that it observed Harris and Leavitt leaving a room at the Gold Coast about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Leavitt, the FBI said, was carrying a white styrofoam cooler that he placed in the Mercedes-Benz.

At 7:06 p.m., Harris and Leavitt arrived at a local restaurant for a meeting with the FBI's source. Leavitt, the FBI said, indicated he wanted to do the testing very quickly.

FBI agents then observed Harris and Leavitt drive to the Green Valley clinic, where they observed someone carrying a white cooler into the building.

The two men were placed under arrest at that time, and the Mercedes was sealed and carted off to Nellis Air Force Base by hazardous materials experts.

In court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney L.J. O'Neal told Hunt the government will seek to have Harris and Leavitt remain in jail without bond while the case is prosecuted.

Hunt allowed Harris to retain Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Kennedy as his lawyer after the defendant told the magistrate he could not afford to hire his own attorney.

When Hunt asked Leavitt if he understood the charges against him, Leavitt responded: "Not exactly."

Hunt re-scheduled Leavitt's bond hearing to noon Monday, and Harris was ordered to appear in court again at 4:30 p.m. Monday.