An Illinois man is facing charges after officials said he sent letters containing white powder to members of Congress.
The Associated Press reported that Matthew Unglesbee is accused of sending at least four plain white envelopes with powdery substances to elected officials in Chicago.
The powder was not dangerous, officials said, but they did not disclose what it was, the AP reported.
The envelopes were postmarked in Springfield, Illinois, and had Unglesbee’s name in the return address area.
WBBM reported Unglesbee’s address was also on the envelope.
One of the letters allegedly had “HAH enjoy the gift,” federal court records stated.
He is charged with mailing threatening communications and perpetrating a hoax. An alleged motive was not announced. No one opened the letters.
An anonymous person tipped off investigators on Oct. 16 after saying they overheard Unglesbee talking about mailing suspicious substance to lawmakers. The FBI found him after the letters were delivered a few days later.
But the AP reported that Unglesbee knew the offices would “take it serious” because it could be mistaken for anthrax, which would cause hazmat teams to respond, the complaint said.
“Unglesbee claimed he was joking but recognized the recipients would not know he was joking and could perceive it as a threat,” the complaint stated.
He told the FBI that he had mailed them after other lawmakers received envelopes containing white powder, WBBM reported.
Unglesbee told agents he used table salt in his mailings.
Federal authorities said they had been investigating cases where congressional and election offices received envelopes with suspicious substances. Unglesbee denied involvement in those cases.
He was being held at the Adams County jail on state charges of harassment through electronic communications before the federal charges were filed, WBBM reported.
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