Jodie Foster Stalker Arrested
A Massachusetts man has been arrested and charged with mailing a bomb threat mentioning actress Jodie Foster to a Los Angeles-area airport.
CBS affiliate wbztv.com, reported that a Holliston, Mass. man is accused of sending a bomb threat letter to the Van Nuys Airport in California that included a reference to Foster, according to FBI officials.
FBI agents said that Michael Smegal, 42, sent the threatening letter from Holliston last December. The handwritten letter was delivered to Van Nuys Airport's administration building saying there was a gas bomb that was going off.
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday the letter was identical to more than 100 others that were sent to celebrities, businesses, airports and other institutions in the Los Angeles area between last September and January this year.
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Prosecutors said Smegal had admitted sending letters and packages to Foster in 2004 and had promised to stop.
They said DNA samples from three of the letters sent in recent months matched the material sent to Foster.
Smegal, who still lives with his parents in Holliston, had his home searched on Jan. 8, 2008. Investigators said they found numerous unsent letters that are identical to the one received by the Van Nuys Airport on Dec. 6, 2007.
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Smegal was released from jail under the supervision of his father and is not allowed access to U.S. Mail or the Internet, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. In addition, he is not allowed to make any unsupervised phone calls and must have no contact with Foster, wbztv.com reported.
Foster has won two Academy Awards, as well as a pair of Golden Globe awards, three British Academy of Film and Television Arts and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
The 45-year-old actress has starred in "Taxi Driver," "The Accused," "Silence of the Lambs," "Contact," "Panic Room" "Flightplan" and "Inside Man."
Smegal did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The 42-year-old faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A hearing is scheduled for Smegal on March 31.
By Melissa Castellanos