Shannon Guess Richardson was arrested in June 2013 after posting poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama.
“I'm not a bad person"
The 36-year-old actress and former beauty queen, who starred in The Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead and The Blind Side, pleaded guilty to possessing and producing the biological toxin of 'ricin'.
She told the court: “I never intended for anybody to be hurt.
“I'm not a bad person. I don't have it in me to hurt anyone.”
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Richardson, who gave birth while in custody, attempted to frame her husband for the crime, obtaining a PayPal account and post office box in his name.
She ordered highly toxic castor beans from the internet and turned them into ricin, a poison so strong that a dose the size of a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human.
Richardson then spiked letters with the compound, addressing one to President Obama, another to Mark Glaze, the Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and the then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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The letter to Obama read: “What's in this letter is nothing compared to what I’ve got in store for you Mr President.
“You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face.”
Before sentencing, Richardson appealed to the judge for “mercy and compassion” saying that she had already been “punished dearly” by being separated from her six children.
However, despite this, the actress received the maximum sentence yesterday.
She was also ordered to pay a fee of $367,000 (£214,000).
Her husband has filed for divorce.