NEWS

Officials: Ohio inmate threatened Trump, sent powder

Kevin Grasha
kgrasha@enquirer.com
Rodney Cydrus

An Ohio prison inmate has been charged with threatening President Donald Trump, federal judges and other officials in letters he mailed from prison – some of which contained white powder.

The powder turned out to be non-toxic, but the letters threatened “to injure numerous government officials,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Rodney Cydrus, 47, is an inmate at the Lebanon Correctional Institution. He was convicted in 2013 in Ross County, records show, on charges including arson, theft and burglary.

According to the indictment: On five separate occasions, from Jan. 17 through Jan. 31, Cydrus mailed letters threatening officials, including Trump, federal judges and the FBI.

Four letters were addressed to the FBI and one was addressed to the Federal Public Defender’s Office. The letter that included threats against Trump, the indictment says, was sent Jan. 17 to the public defender's office. It also threatened numerous federal judges.

That letter and one other included the white powder as part of the threat, the indictment says.

Cydrus is charged in federal court in Cincinnati with mailing threatening communications, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.