BANGOR – A former Augusta man was sentenced Friday to nine months in federal prison for sending threatening, flour-laced letters to his former bosses.

Darren Ellis, 38, now living in Pittston with a brother, sent the letters just 10 months after Sept. 11, 2001, while concern over mail containing deadly anthrax was high.

He could have been sentenced to a term of probation or up to a year in prison based on the federal sentencing guidelines.

Ellis, who worked as a furniture mover for a decade before being fired in March 2002, also was sentenced to two years’ supervised release. He was ordered to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in three weeks.

U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock said Friday that Ellis knew when he included flour in the letters – one addressed to an Augusta resident, the other to a Gardiner man – that it would frighten and terrorize his intended victims.

“The act itself is very, very serious,” the judge told Ellis. “I don’t consider it a hoax or a prank. These letters were sent in the context of their time. These were not just threatening letters. We all know what the anthrax scare did to this country. The inclusion of the flour changes my view what you have done.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Torresen recommended a nine-month sentence. She urged the judge to impose a relatively long sentence to “send a message” to society about such acts.

Torresen told Woodcock that a white, powdered substance spilled out when one of the envelopes broke open during sorting, causing the mobilization of the Augusta Police and Fire departments as well as a special hazardous materials handling team and the investigative division of the United States Postal Service.

The other letter was turned in to Augusta police by the recipient.

Although the letters were anonymous and did not contain a return address, fingerprint analysis conducted by the Postal Service’s forensic lab in Virginia confirmed a match with Ellis.

In a plea agreement last summer, Ellis pleaded guilty to one charge of mailing threatening communications and a second charge was dropped.

Except for two convictions in the mid-1990s for operating while under the influence of an intoxicating beverage, he has no other criminal record.

Ellis apologized Friday for his actions. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know it was wrong.”

In another matter, William Noble Hooker III, 33, of Surry, was sentenced Friday to 63 months in prison and three years’ supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Noble also was sentenced Friday in Bangor on state charges of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact with a child under the age of 14 from Hancock County.

Maine Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead sentenced Noble to 12 years in state prison with all but 41/2 years suspended and six years’ probation.

The state sentence is to run concurrently with the federal sentence and Noble will be incarcerated in a federal institution.