Anthrax joker dealing with getting caught

ST. LOUIS -- A man who pulled an anthrax prank on a co-worker isn't finding many things funny about it these days.

Mark Emory was charged Wednesday with misdeameanor assault and harassment after a scrawled reference to anthrax -- meant to tease an understanding co-worker -- was pulled from trash miles away and reported to police.

On Thursday, he lost his job over the stunt, leaving the 35-year-old sole wage earner in a family of four now looking for new work.

All over what Emory calls just "a joke on a friend."

"I didn't intend for anyone else to see it," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Emory created the questioned sign a couple of weeks ago at his job as warehouse worker at Marco Sales Inc., a wholesale dealer in heat pumps and air conditioners. Emory scrawled "Caution!! Anthrax Found Inside" on a piece of cardboard and leaving it where his boss would see it.

Emory said his boss took the joke in the spirit intended.

While Emory could face a year behind bars and more than $1,000 in fines for the misdemeanors, a prosecutor said she was inclined to give him a break.

"It's not the crime of the century," St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said. "Not by a long shot."