Clayton Lee Waagner wasn't surprised Thursday when a federal court jury in Cincinnati convicted him of firearms and car theft charges.

        He had, after all, told the jury only an hour earlier that he committed all of the crimes. He said he stole a Mercedes Benz, shoplifted a pistol and transported a rifle across state lines.

Waagner

        He also admitted to several crimes — including mailing fake anthrax letters to abortion clinics — for which he has yet to be charged.

        Mr. Waagner said his only defense was that he did it all as part of his self-proclaimed “war on the abortion industry.”

        The jury needed only 40 minutes to convict him of all six charges.

        “I expected it,” Mr. Waagner said.

        The verdict ended a four-day trial in U.S. District Court that Mr. Waagner used to express his radical anti-abortion views. Throughout the trial, he seemed more interested in talking about abortion than in defending himself against charges that carry a potential life sentence.

        Mr. Waagner, who acted as his own attorney, repeatedly introduced evidence that implicated him in crimes, including many that were not even at issue in the trial.

        At one point, he insisted that the jury hear three hours of taped interviews he made with law enforcement officials after his arrest in Springdale on Dec. 5.

        In the tapes, Mr. Waagner admitted to robbing banks, stealing cars, shoplifting guns, mailing fake anthrax letters and terrorizing those who work at abortion clinics.

        “It's important for me to talk about the abortion issue,” he said on one tape. “This is my 15 minutes, and I'm going to use it for that.”

        Mr. Waagner repeated that theme Thursday in his final statements to the jury.

        He admitted to the crimes but claimed his case was in federal court instead of state court because the government wanted to punish him for his views on abortion.

        “I'm being isolated in this and I think everyone can see the reason,” Mr. Waagner said. “I have a very strong agenda.

        “My focus is on pre-born children who I feel are being slaughtered in this country.”

        Prosecutors, however, said the case has nothing to do with Mr. Waagner's personal feelings about abortion or any other issue.

        “This case is about two firearms and a car,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Behlen. “It's not about a lot of other things we've heard a good deal about.”

        Because Mr. Waagner is a convicted felon and was an escaped prisoner at the time of the offenses, he faces a possible life sentence for each of the six charges.

        Judge Susan Dlott is expected to sentence Mr. Waagner within three months.

        Mr. Waagner, 45, was one of the most wanted men in America for most of 2001. He was suspected of mailing hundreds of fake anthrax letters to abortion clinics and family planning centers across the country.

        He also claimed in letters and on the Internet to have obtained the names and addresses of 42 abortion doctors. He claimed he would kill them unless they stopped working at the clinics.

        Mr. Waagner admitted to doing all of those things during his trial this week.

        He was arrested Dec. 5 after a sales clerk at a Kinko's store in Springdale recognized him from an FBI wanted poster. Mr. Waagner had gone there to check his e-mail on a store computer.

       The Associated Press contributed to this report.
       

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