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The Utah man claiming he discovered the deadly biological agent ricin in his cousin’s Las Vegas hotel room is now accused of a dangerous cover-up.

A grand jury says Thomas Tholen knew that ricin was being made but didn’t tell police.

On February 29th, officers converged on his Riverton home asking neighbors to evacuate while haz-mat teams went in.

They were looking the toxic powder made from tiny castor beans.

An amount the size of a pinhead can be deadly.

In fact, Tholen’s cousin was critically ill with symptoms typical of ricin exposure.

Tholen gave a few vials of the white powder to a front desk worker at a Las Vegas hotel when he went to check on his critically ill cousin.

Now, federal prosecutors claim Tholen put the public at risk.

U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman says, “This type of substance in the hands of those individuals that intend to use it poses a clear, present and lethal danger to the community.”

There are few uses for ricin. It can be used in medical research. But Thomas Tholen is a retired East High art teacher.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge, Timothy Fuhrman says, “You have individuals who are potential lone wolves.”

The FBI poses the question, “Were he and his cousin involved in some criminal plot?”

Fuhrman says, “We still don’t have any indication that this was planned as an act of terror, but we cannot say for certain that it was not planned as an act of terror.”

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