Scientist Behind Airport Evacuation Charged with Smuggling Plague in 2003

The scientist who prompted an evacuation of Miami International Airport for carrying what screeners believed was a pipe bomb is known to federal authorities and was charged in 2003 for illegally transporting 30 vials of the deadly bubonic plague. Officials said Dr. Thomas Butler, 70, a U.S. citizen, who teaches in the Caribbean and Saudi Arabia, was released after questioning. Authorities said the metal canister in his luggage tested negative for dangerous materials and was related to a legitimate experiment. Butler, a renowned infectious disease expert who spent more than 20 years working on cures for cholera and bubonic plague at Texas Tech, lost his job after he was found guilty of exporting the vials, lying to federal officials, and embezzling research funds. He was charged with 47 counts smuggling biohazard materials. He spent two years in prison but was later acquitted of smuggling plague