LAS VEGAS (AP) - A former VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System employee has pleaded guilty to creating a bioweapons hoax by placing envelopes containing a white powdery substance on coworkers’ desks almost a year ago, authorities said Tuesday.
Phuong Tang, 40, of Las Vegas, could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing June 23, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said.
Tang’s federal public defender, Katherine Tanaka, did not immediately respond to messages.
Court documents say Tang was a podiatry clinic technician at the Veterans Administration facility in North Las Vegas, where police hazardous materials and counter-terrorism teams were summoned last July 12 after two envelopes were found containing a white powdery substance.
The powder was later determined to be baking soda and smelling salts, and Tang admitted to investigators that he put the envelopes on the desks.
Prosecutors noted that Tang had been due to meet with supervisors that day about unexplained absences from work, and he had spoken earlier about employees getting a day off if someone left powder-filled envelopes at the clinic.
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