MIAMI (AP) — A senior law enforcement official says the scientist detained at Miami International Airport because of a suspicious item in his luggage had once been charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague.
The official told The Associated Press on Friday that no dangerous material was found on 70-year-old Thomas Butler after he was detained Thursday night. He was released Friday.
The official said Butler cooperated fully after he arrived on a flight from the Middle East. The official requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.
Butler was teaching at Texas Tech in 2003 when he was accused of illegally transporting the deadly germ. He was acquitted on those counts but convicted of fraud. He served a two-year sentence.
