FAYETTEVILLE – A Winslow man was sentenced Thursday to 96 months in prison without the possibility of parole for Possession of a Biological Agent. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing, which was held in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
According to court documents, in January 2024, a concerned citizen made an anonymous tip to the Washington County Sherriff’s office that Jason Kale Clampit, age 44, was manufacturing and may have poisoned one of his family members with ricin. Thereafter, an investigation revealed that Clampit had, in fact, produced ricin at his residence in Winslow for the stated purpose of setting traps for trespassers. The investigation likewise revealed that during the manufacturing process, Clampit inadvertently exposed himself to ricin, which made him extremely ill. On January 24, 2025, a federal search warrant was executed by both the Bentonville Bomb Squad and an FBI Bioweapon Specialist team, which resulted in the confiscation of several items associated with processing ricin, and suspected ricin byproducts. On that same day, Clampit was taken into custody. While in jail, he made statements on a monitored phone call in which he directed others to dispose of liquid ricin contained in a jar that was secreted in a camper on his property. After listening to the monitored call, FBI agents responded quickly, contacted the individual Clampit directed, and located, in a trash can, a jar containing processed ricin.
Clampit was indicted by a Grand Jury in the Western District of Arkansas in March 2024. He entered a plea of guilty in October 2024.
U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Bentonville Police Department, and the Arkansas Department of Corrections Division of Community Correction (probation and parole) all investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
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