VIRGINIA BEACH — A South Carolina woman, who had been living here, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the unregistered possession of ricin, a highly dangerous toxin.
According to court documents, Virginia Beach Police officers executing a search warrant in March 2016 found a number of chemicals, packages of castor beans, and multiple firearms, one with an “obliterated serial number,” in a storage unit rented by Debbie Siers-Hill, 63, of Summerville, who was then living in Virginia Beach.
Federal prosecutors said tests of the chemicals showed a syringe and a double-wrapped container found in the storage unit held ricin, a toxin derived from castor beans with no known antidote.
Siers-Hill pleaded guilty to possessing ricin, a listed “select agent” subject to Department of Health and Human Services registration requirements with which she did not comply.
She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Siers-Hill is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 14, 2019.
