NATION : Ma Sheela Sought in Death Plot
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PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal authorities want to extradite the fiery personal secretary of the late Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and charge her with plotting to kill a federal prosecutor, a published report said today.
The Oregonian newspaper said it has learned prosecutors are preparing a new criminal case against the woman, Ma Anand Sheela, who has been living in Germany since her release from a federal prison in California.
U.S. Atty. Charles Turner declined comment on the report that he was a target of the murder plot and the newspaper did not identify its sources.
Sheela served 29 months in prison for crimes committed while followers of the late Indian guru lived on a former Oregon cattle ranch in the early 1980s. She pleaded guilty to immigration fraud, attempted murder, arson and poisoning 750 residents of The Dalles, Ore., by infecting restaurant salad bars with salmonella bacteria.
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