中国留美学生代购蓖麻毒素被判十六年
一名曾在美国纽约大学就读的中国男子在网上代购剧毒的蓖麻毒素，结果找的卖家是联
邦调查局（FBI）探员，８日被曼哈顿一家联邦法院判处１６年监禁。
被告名为乐成（音译），现年22岁，曾在纽约大学就读物理学专业，不久离校，在独自
租住的曼哈顿一处公寓内做起了网络代购生意。
检察官说，2014年12月，在一家名为“进化”的网络黑市网站上，向网名为“黑暗马尔
特”的商贩打听购买蓖麻毒素事宜，称自己有不少二手买家。
“黑暗马尔特”实际上是当时在调查黑市不法行为的联邦调查局卧底。
法庭文件显示，乐成在同“黑暗马尔特”聊天时写道，“如果你能把（蓖麻毒素）做成
简易药片，肯定会大卖。”他还在发给对方的信息中说，把蓖麻毒素药片混入普通维生
素药瓶，目标对象每天吃一片，“迟早会因摄入的剧毒药片而死掉”。
蓖麻毒素是一种致命剧毒物，而且没有解药。美国媒体先前报道，“基地”组织曾计划
用蓖麻毒素、氰化物等致命毒剂对美国发动恐怖袭击。
乐成在聊天记录中还写道，“毕竟我们卖的东西是用来杀人，风险越小，越有效，也就
越好。”
联邦调查局探员把假的蓖麻毒素邮寄给乐成。提货时，乐成带着胶皮手套，将货物带到
他的公寓，随即被当场逮捕。执法人员在公寓内还发现可以提取蓖麻毒素的蓖麻种子。
当时，乐成的电脑处于黑市网站登录状态。
去年８月，陪审团认定，乐成企图购买蓖麻毒素作为武器、用假名进行非法交易以及盗
用他人身份三项指控罪名成立。
８日宣判时，法官艾利森・内森说，乐成企图通过网络黑市“获得生物剧毒物蓖
麻毒素”，“情节严重，骇人听闻”，应予以重判。所幸的是，调查人员及时发现并阻
止乐成接触不法分子，他的行为才没有导致人员受害。
联邦助理检察官伊兰・格雷夫称乐成“企图从谋杀中获利”。
乐成的辩护律师帕特里克・布拉克利说，将会上诉，希望乐成能够得到宽大处理
，理由是乐成父母曾来信说，乐成到美国上大学时还不成熟；另外，乐成曾收到几所常
春藤院校的录取通知书。
在法庭上，乐成数度落泪。他说，自己在忏悔中度日，“没有一天不在思考我原本可以
去做的事情”。
Chinese man gets U.S. prison term for trying to buy ricin online
NEW YORK | BY NATE RAYMOND
Defendant Cheng Le is shown in this government evidence photo which was
released by U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, during Le's trial in New
York August 25, 2015. REUTERS/U.S. Attorney's Office/Handout
Defendant Cheng Le is shown in this government evidence photo which was
released by U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, during Le's trial in New
York August 25, 2015.
REUTERS/U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE/HANDOUT
A former New York University student from China was sentenced on Tuesday to
16 years in prison after being convicted of trying to buy the deadly toxin
ricin on a secretive website in order to sell it in the form of "simple and
easy death pills."
Cheng Le, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in
Manhattan after a jury in August found him guilty on charges including that
he attempted to possess a biological toxin for use as a weapon.
Nathan said Le, who attended NYU to study physics but left school early,
deserved a severe sentence in light of the "horrible, serious and quite
terrifying offense" he committed through sophisticated means.
"He used the Dark Web to acquire the biological toxin ricin," she said.
During a rambling statement in court, Le said he planned to appeal, but said
of the case: "Not a day goes by that I do not think of all of things I
could have done."
The case came amid efforts by law enforcement to crack down on illegal
activity involving online black markets operating on a hidden network of
websites that can only be accessed using specialized browsers.
The marketplaces included Evolution, which before its abrupt March closing
became the largest after the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 2013 seizure
of Silk Road, where drugs and other items could be bought using the digital
currency bitcoin.
Prosecutors said that in December 2014, Le, going by "WhenInDoubt,"
contacted an Evolution vendor called "Dark_Mart" about buying ricin.
In messages to the vendor, who was actually an FBI employee, Le discussed
plans to sell the ricin as "simple and easy death pills" to customers for
their own use.
Prosecutors said Le discussed wanting the ricin pills included in a bottle
with ordinary vitamins, so when a target took the pills daily, "sooner or
later he'd ingest that poisonous pill and die."
Le wrote, "After all, it is death itself we're selling here, and the more
risk-free, the more efficient we can make it, the better," prosecutors said.
The FBI shipped fake ricin to Le, who, wearing latex gloves, retrieved the
shipment and took its contents to his apartment.
He was arrested at his apartment, where authorities found not only the fake
ricin but castor oil bean seeds, ricin's source, and Le's computer, which
was logged onto the website.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)
