LOS ANGELES, April 16 (Xinhua) -- FBI agents arrested a man suspected of possessing ricin, a deadly toxin, authorities said on Wednesday.

    Roger Bergendorff, 57, was arrested in Las Vegas on federal charges, the FBI said.

    The arrest was made after Bergendorff was released from a Las Vegas hospital where he had been since Feb. 14.

    Bergendorff was hospitalized after being sickened by ricin, earlier reports said.

    "He was released from the hospital and he's in custody," said Agent Joseph Dickey, spokesman for the FBI office in Las Vegas.

    Authorities found toxin materials on Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 in a motel room where Bergendorff had been staying several blocks off the center of Las Vegas.

    Bergendorff is charged with possession of a biological toxin and two weapons offenses stemming from the materials.

    The suspect faces a possible penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a 750,000-dollar fine.

    Bergendorff allegedly obtained castor beans, from which ricin is derived, by mail in June 2002, and made ricin from them while living in the basement of his cousin's house in Riverton, Utah, according to a six-page complaint.

    The manufacture or possession of ricin, a biological agent, is prohibited by federal law. The only legal use for the substance is cancer research.