Student charged with keeping anthrax at lab

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- A University of Connecticut student was charged Monday with keeping anthrax in a campus laboratory but authorities said he will not be prosecuted if he completes a pretrial diversion program.

Tomas Foral, 26, faces up to 10 years in prison for possessing a biological agent. However, the U.S. Attorney's Office said he will be allowed to participate in a program that could include community service.

Foral said he believes the case will be resolved in six months.

"I have no choice," he said outside his home. "It would be very expensive to go to trial. It would be unaffordable to me."

Two vials containing anthrax-infected animal tissue from the 1960s were found in a Foral's freezer in the laboratory November 27, five days after the fifth and final death from last fall's anthrax attacks. Investigators said Foral had been told to destroy the samples, but kept them instead.

The FBI said the samples would have required additional processing to produce infectious spores, but the material was ordered destroyed and the lab building was checked for contamination.

Officials said they found no link between the vials and the November 21 death of an elderly woman from inhalation anthrax in Oxford, about 70 miles away from the campus in Storrs. Authorities have speculated that Ottilie Lundgren's death might have been caused by mail that crossed paths with anthrax-laden envelopes sent to members of Congress and the media in Washington and New York.

The university has not taken action against Foral, and he is scheduled to receive his master's degree next year.

UConn spokeswoman Karen Grava said samples of anthrax are no longer kept at the university lab for research purposes. The university also created a new position of environmental manager to help oversee health and safety issues.