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Warren auditor indicted in shipping of powder through U.S. mail
By Ed Runyan
CLEVELAND
Indictment - Anthony Natale
Document
Court document detailing the indictment of Anthony J. Natale.
Warren’s new auditor, Anthony J. Natale, 37, of Genessee Avenue Northeast, remains on the job today even though he is under a federal grand jury indictment charging one count of conveying false information related to the use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Natale is accused of sending an envelope containing white powder to his former employer, American Business Center, 7677 South Ave., Boardman, Nov. 10, 2014, after being terminated from the job. The powder fell out of the envelope onto an employee, causing panic that the powder might be a toxin, such as anthrax, and leading to an evacuation.
Natale was arrested Wednesday morning.
Warren Law Director Greg Hicks said he expects to be called upon to research whether the indictment will affect Natale’s ability to remain as city auditor, but he has not done so yet.
At this point, he said, he can only point to what occurred after Youngstown Mayor John McNally was indicted in the Oakhill Renaissance Place corruption case.
McNally remained in office because the crimes he was accused of committing involved his previous job as county commissioner, not his position as mayor, Hicks said.
Carole S. Rendon, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, in announcing the charges, said: “This defendant scared employees at his former workplace who opened an envelope containing white powder that they thought was a toxin.”
“He caused panic; fire, police and HazMat units were forced to respond, and his former employer was forced to close their operations for more than two days. Mr. Natale will be held accountable for his actions.”
In federal court in Youngstown, U.S. Magistrate George J. Limbert released Natale on an unsecured $20,000 bond Wednesday afternoon.
Escorted by U.S. marshals, Natale entered the courtroom in handcuffs and a belly chain and wearing a horizontally striped blue polo shirt and blue jeans.
After Natale entered his innocent plea, the magistrate ordered Natale to have no contact with any alleged victim or potential witness in the case.
Atty. Damian Billak stood in for Atty. J. Gerald Ingram as the defense lawyer because Ingram was in another court on an unrelated case.
Justin Seabury Gould, an assistant U.S. attorney, was in court as the prosecutor and did not seek to keep Natale in detention.
The case is assigned to the Youngstown-based U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson.
As conditions of his bond, Natale must not possess a firearm or leave northern Ohio, the magistrate said.
The powder issue was the reason the FBI took a DNA sample from Natale last August while he was running for auditor. He was elected without opposition in November after defeating former Warren Councilman Andy Barkley in the Democratic primary 1,595 votes to 1,542. Natale took office this January.
Natale mailed an envelope containing white powder through the U.S. mail to ABC “with the intent to convey false and misleading information related to the use of a weapon of mass destruction,” according to his indictment. Natale was terminated from ABC Oct. 6, 2014, according to court documents.
Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols said he believes the indictment is appropriate, especially given the disruption the incident caused at the time.
“The day that occurred, it tied up the police department and the fire department for quite some time, and it shut down that business for several days, so it’s probably appropriate that the gentleman faces some type of criminal charge,” he said.
Boardman police, as well as the township fire department, FBI agents, medical workers and a hazardous-materials team responded to the incident, and local law enforcement aided in the initial investigation. Responders at the time spent several hours evacuating employees and clearing the scene.
ABC hired Natale as sales representative in October 2013, but he never met his sales quota and was fired for lack of performance Oct. 6, 2014, The Vindicator reported in August. ABC provides copy-machine sales and service.
Natale became “very irate” upon learning of his termination, yelling and slamming desk drawers and “stormed out of his supervisor’s office and sped out of the company’s parking lot,” according to an affidavit.
Shortly afterward, his supervisor received a text message from Natale saying, “I hope you die from cancer of the eys [sic],” the affidavit said. The supervisor called Boardman police.
The company later sent Natale information in the mail about continuing his health insurance, as required by law, and asked Natale to sign the letter and return it to ABC. The health-insurance paperwork was with the white powder.
The DNA sample was taken to determine whether Natale was the person who sent the powder, according to documents.
The powder fell from the envelope and into an employee’s lap, desk and floor in front of the desk, the affidavit said. Paperwork inside the envelope was signed in Natale’s name, and the signature matched another Natale signature, the FBI said.
“There are appropriate, lawful avenues to express your displeasure at work, and inducing panic by sending what is believed to be a weapon of mass destruction is not one of them,” said Stephen D. Anthony, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office. “The FBI will continue efforts to identify and protect the public from threats such as the one perpetrated by Mr. Natale.”
The FBI said in the affidavit that putting white powder in an envelope in the mail constitutes a “hoax use of a weapon of mass destruction.” Such acts became a greater concern after five people died and 17 were infected with anthrax in September 2001, seven days after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Contributors: Staff writers Peter H. Milliken and Jordyn Grzelewski