Accountant Fined for Anthrax Hoax

A San Fernando Valley accountant who telephoned an anthrax threat to avoid appearing at a Bankruptcy Court hearing was ordered Wednesday to pay more than $600,000 restitution to cover the costs incurred by the police and fire departments.

Harvey Craig Spelkin, 53, of Calabasas was also sentenced to one day in jail and placed on five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge George H. King.

Spelkin had faced a possible life prison term after his conviction earlier this year on a charge of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. The law was enacted after the terrorist bombing at New York’s World Trade Center.

During a bench trial before King, Spelkin’s lawyers, Steven Cron and Philip Israel, argued that the law was not intended for use in hoaxes, but the judge disagreed.

Spelkin confessed to making an anonymous telephone call to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills last Dec. 18 in which he claimed that anthrax, a deadly biotoxin, had been released into the building’s air conditioning system.

About 150 firefighters, hazardous-material specialists, police and federal agents were dispatched to the courthouse on Burbank Boulevard. About 90 courthouse employees were quarantined for eight hours as the building was searched. No contamination was found.

Spelkin had been ordered to appear that day before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kathleen T. Lax to determine if he should be sanctioned for failing to attend various proceedings in which he faced accusations of embezzling more than $100,000 from a former employer.

A court staffer, familiar with Spelkin’s record of absenteeism, tipped off FBI agents. When confronted, Spelkin admitted making the call.

Spelkin’s hoax came amid a rash of false anthrax threats in Los Angeles and other cities.

Cron, his defense lawyer, said Spelkin was ordered to pay $1,000 toward his restitution now and at least $200 a month thereafter. He also must perform 400 hours of community service. He has already served his one-day jail term.