Anthrax Seized in Las Vegas Was Harmless

The anthrax scare that rattled this city was a false alarm.

The FBI announced curtly here Saturday that the material taken from two men who allegedly claimed they had enough anthrax to “wipe out the city” turned out to be a harmless veterinary vaccine.

Agency officials, reflecting their concern for domestic terrorism, defended the arrests, saying the bureau had been forced to act on information too serious to ignore.

One of the men, William Job Leavitt Jr. of nearby Logandale, was released from custody and told reporters: “I absolutely have no hard feelings.” Refusing to detail his activities, he called his arrest the result of “some misunderstandings and probably some miscommunication.”

Leavitt promised not to engage in any medical, biological or biochemical research, experimentation or treatment while the criminal charges against him are pending, attorneys for both sides said.

Leavitt and Larry Wayne Harris are charged with conspiracy to possess anthrax “for use as a weapon.”

Despite test results showing that the seized anthrax was a nonlethal form, the FBI said its investigation was continuing. The agency said Harris--a microbiologist who has published a book on biological warfare protection and is on probation--may find it more difficult to win release at his bail review hearing Monday.

Biological materials seized by the FBI during a search late last week of properties Harris owns in Ohio are still being tested to determine if they are the deadly form of anthrax, according to a government source familiar with the investigation.

The source would not describe the material, estimate its volume or specify where it was seized.

The testing of Harris’ property is being conducted at the Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick in Frederick, Md., the source said. This is the same facility that determined that the anthrax found by FBI agents after the arrest of the pair Wednesday was nonlethal.

The federal public defender for Harris could not be reached for comment.

Harris, who has boasted widely about how easy it is to obtain deadly biological material, is on probation for a 1995 conviction for fraudulently obtaining bubonic plague toxins.

The FBI seized four glass containers after Wednesday’s arrest, said Bobby L. Siller, special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Las Vegas.

He said the material tested positive for anthrax--but further examination revealed that it lacked DNA material that would cause the bacteria to form spore sores.

As a result “it is not a toxic pathogen and would not be considered a toxic material,” Siller said.

In defending the arrests, Siller said: “Through interviews, surveillance, consensual monitoring and background checks, we believed Mr. Harris and Mr. Leavitt to be capable of possessing anthrax. Because of the serious potential threat to the community, our actions had to be quick and decisive.

“We truly felt, and we feel now, that we had enough probable cause to believe that there was a danger to the community. . . . It would have been irresponsible for us not to react to that information,” Siller said.

In its criminal complaint, the FBI alleged that Harris and Leavitt possessed anthrax “for use as a weapon.” Asked how that allegation now squared with test results showing that the material was benign, Siller said: “That will have to come out at [Monday’s] hearing. That’s something that the United States attorney’s office will have to address with the defense attorneys.”

One of Leavitt’s lawyers, Lamond Mills, said Saturday: “Legally, this means their case goes down the toilet. I would expect the U.S. attorney to drop the charges.”

In a news conference outside the jail, Leavitt--a 47-year-old medical researcher who also owns a local fire protection services company and is a bishop in the Mormon church--embraced his wife. He called his incarceration “the most difficult days of my life.” He would not discuss why or how he came to possess the biological materials in question.

The FBI on Saturday continued to stand by its criminal complaint allegation that Leavitt had boasted--in a conversation overheard by agents--that he possessed “military grade” anthrax bacteria, which can be lethal in tiny amounts.

Leavitt’s other attorney, Kirby Wells, said earlier in the day that Leavitt disputes that claim.

“It’s not clear whether they were repeating something [from the tipster] or the agent actually heard him say that, but we don’t think he did say it. If he did, it was like a joke or offhand reference that wasn’t meant to be anything. Telling somebody you have anthrax is not a crime,” Wells said.

He complained that Leavitt had been jailed away from other inmates, including Harris, and forced to wear a face mask, presumably in case he carried the anthrax bacteria.

The tip that led to the FBI’s 12-hour investigation and arrest of Leavitt and Harris came from Ronald G. Rockwell, a Las Vegas engineer who said he had been negotiating to sell the men technology that, he claimed, could destroy various kinds of bacteria.

He said in a previous interview that he believed Leavitt and Harris were going to test his equipment on E. coli and other small bacteria--and was stunned Tuesday night when the men boasted that they were going to test his equipment on the anthrax bacteria. He called the FBI on Wednesday morning.

Rockwell could not be reached for comment Saturday.

The fact that the three men were pursuing tests of some kind was hardly a secret. Harris had previously contacted the Dugway Proving Ground, an Army research facility in Utah, about testing anthrax there, but was turned down, an Army spokesman said, because the facility is not available for private research.

And just five days before the arrests, on the local KNXT-AM radio talk show, Rockwell and Leavitt spoke for two hours about how they planned to conduct tests involving biological agents brought to Las Vegas by Harris.

The purpose of the tests, they said, was to determine whether Rockwell’s technology could cure an anthrax infection.

Asked Saturday if there was any evidence to indicate that the men had devious plans to use the suspected anthrax, Siller said: “The evidence that we have is . . . based on statements made in the past that would show an intent to build, or use it, as a weapon.

“As I stand here now,” said Siller, “our investigation is very active, and we are continuing our investigation--not only here but in other states.”

He then added: “There is no reason for anyone to be concerned about any contaminants in this area, or any area that I’m aware of.”

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Times staff writer Ron Ostrow in Washington contributed to this story.