Judge orders competency evaluation for man charged with mailing explosives

SEATTLE -- A federal judge has ordered a competency evaluation for a man accused of mailing explosive devices to government agencies in the Washington D.C. area.

Thanh Cong Phan was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday on one count of shipping explosive materials, but U.S. District Judge John Coughenour signed an order Tuesday cancelling the arraignment until a psychologist files a report on Phan's competency.

The FBI said in Phan's criminal complaint that 11 suspicious packages were received by mail at government agencies on March 26. The agencies included the U.S. Secret Service, the Dahlgreen Naval Base and FBI headquarters.

Each package contained a letter with "ramblings about neuropsychology, mind control" and terrorism. They also contained a homemade explosive device -- a glass bottle containing a black substance with a fuse and a small GPS device.