Cutler was charged with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. Defenbaugh said authorities recovered the vials and eventually traced them back to Cutler. The first vial was found at a Dallas-area mail processing center in December 1998 and the second at a Dallas apartment complex the following month.
Anthrax is a highly infectious bacterial disease, capable of killing a person within a few days.
The indictment did not offer any details about a motive in the crime, or who, if anyone, had been the intended recipient of the vials. Cutler was also charged with sending a threatening communication through the mail and fraudulent use of a Social Security number. Cutler, an emergency medical technician, was released on his own recognizance Friday and was scheduled to be arraigned January 13. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.