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Woman Sentenced for Anthrax Threat

A woman who made an anthrax threat to the Broward County, Florida property appraiser`s office was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest and two-years probation Friday. Michelle Ledgister, a former National Institutes of Health employee, was also fined $1,000, in addition to the $2,200 in restitution she paid for the county`s cost in responding to the threat.

Ledgister, 43, said she was angry over an appraisal of a rental home she owns in Parkland, which raised her taxes by more than $2,000 a year. She then called the office on July 26 and said, "You guys now have anthrax spores once again, so do be careful," according to the FBI. At her sentencing hearing Friday, Ledgister apologized for her behavior.

"Not a day goes by that I don`t feel shame and remorse for my conduct," Ledgister said to U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn. "I`m terribly sorry for what I`ve done." Under a new national anti-terrorism law that makes it illegal to make false anthrax threats, Ledgister was facing up to five years in prison. However, because she no prior record, prosecutors recommended leniency.