Hatboro Man Sentenced to Prison for Sending Ricin-Laced Card

A Hatboro man has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison on charges he tried to kill a Warminster man by sending a card laced with the deadly toxin ricin.

Nicholas Helman, 20, pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the 2014 incident in which authorities said he sent the ricin-laced greeting card to a Warminster man. He was sentenced Monday in Bucks County Court.

According to police, Helmen sent his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend a scratch-and-sniff card laced with the deadly toxin. Police intercepted the card before the substance came into contact with its intended victim.

Helman’s sentencing charges included attempted murder, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.

Helman was arrested after he told a coworker at Target in Warrington about his plot. That coworker contacted authorities, who then intercepted the envelope, according to NBC News. The powder inside tested positive for ricin.

Shortly after Helman’s arrest, Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler told the Philadelphia Inquirer the ricin dose was “very potent.”