‘Easy death pills’: Chinese man who tried to buy ricin online is jailed in US

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 US 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, also known as “William Lee”, 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 specialised browsers.