Man names Jodie Foster in threatening letters

BOSTON -- Authorities arrested a Massachusetts man Tuesday and charged him with mailing a bomb threat mentioning actress Jodie Foster to a Los Angeles-area airport.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan alleged that Michael Smegal of Holliston sent the handwritten letter, which included the words "Jodie Foster S" and "going to be a gas bomb this building," to the Van Nuys Airport in December.

More than 100 nearly identical letters, some of which also mentioned Foster, were sent to the addresses of celebrities, businesses, airports and other institutions in the area between last September and January this year, FBI Special Agent Joseph H. Altman said in an affidavit.

Altman said Smegal acknowledged sending the letters and said he chose airports because he believed they had a connection with the Screen Actors Guild, which Smegal believed had made disparaging remarks against Foster.

Prosecutors said Foster began receiving anonymous letters and packages from Massachusetts in 2004. One of the packages contained a prepaid cell phone along with a request that the actress call a specific number, Altman said in the affidavit.

"Law enforcement called the number and spoke to an individual who identified himself as Michael Smegal," Altman wrote. "Smegal spoke with the agent and used the phone to send photographs of himself and his dog."

Foster was famously connected to the March 30, 1981, attempt on President Reagan's life by John Hinckley Jr. The shooter had written to Foster, saying he hoped to "gain your respect and love" by attempting to kill the president, according to text of the letter available at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's school of law Web site.