A 68-year-old South Florida man has been arrested and charged with deliberately mailing a greeting card smeared with peanut butter to a woman whose severe peanut allergy could be life-threatening, according to Plantation police.
Joseph Gerard Cancellare was taken into custody on November 13 and faces one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of culpable negligence exposing another person to harm, a probable cause affidavit states. He was taken to HCA Florida Westside Hospital for medical clearance before being booked into the Broward Sheriff's Office main jail. The charges are accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Source: CBS Miami via Spot On Florida
A blue envelope in the driveway
The incident dates to August 14, 2025, when the woman returned home from work and found a blue envelope in her driveway. The envelope looked greasy and bore unfamiliar handwriting, and it was addressed to her using an address tied to a previous residence, according to arrest documents.
Inside was a greeting card with a brown substance spread across the interior. The woman recognized it immediately as peanut butter, dropped the envelope, called for help and ran inside to wash her hands. She told investigators she developed hives on both arms and a tingling sensation that lasted about six hours.
An allergy documented for years
Her allergy is well documented. A prior police report from May 2017 recorded the condition, and investigators reviewed medical records detailing its severity. The woman said that even touching peanuts or encountering airborne peanut particles could trigger a dangerous reaction affecting her breathing and that, without immediate medical intervention, exposure could be fatal. Doctors and allergy specialists warn that for people with severe food allergies, even trace contact can escalate quickly into anaphylaxis, a whole-body reaction that can close the airways and requires emergency treatment.
Police say Cancellare knew the woman personally and understood the risk. The two had known each other for more than 20 years and spent time together with their spouses in social settings, and witnesses said he had seen her take precautions when dining out or attending gatherings. The affidavit indicates the alleged motive involved a contentious divorce between Cancellare and his wife; the woman is a longtime acquaintance, not his spouse. Investigators also said Cancellare had made remarks to friends expressing a desire to harm people connected to the situation. Those claims are the police account in the affidavit and have not been tested in court.
How investigators traced the envelope
Plantation police enlisted a U.S. postal inspector, who helped trace two Forever stamps on the envelope to a self-service kiosk at the Davie Post Office on South University Drive. A 15-digit code printed on the stamps identified the machine and the transaction that produced them.
Source: Focal News
The stamps were bought on August 8, 2025, with a Visa card, and the kiosk photographed the buyer. Police said the card belonged to Cancellare, and the stamps moved through a Miami postal facility on August 13, the day before the envelope was found. When shown the kiosk photograph, the woman immediately identified Cancellare, according to the affidavit, and several other people who knew him also identified him, including an acquaintance who had played in a band with him.
Police further alleged that Cancellare drove to a post office in a different city from where he lived, wore sunglasses inside in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity, and used a fictitious name and return address on the envelope. Detectives concluded he mailed the card knowing it could cause serious injury or death, and that he intended to cause death or serious bodily injury — again, the investigators' allegation, which Cancellare will have the chance to answer in court.
What happens next
The investigation continued into 2026 as detectives gathered witness statements and medical records, and Plantation police contacted Cancellare at his home on November 13 and arrested him. The case now moves through the Broward County courts, where prosecutors will decide how to proceed on the two counts and Cancellare will enter a plea. Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon is a felony under Florida law; the second count accuses him of culpable negligence that exposed another person to harm. No trial date has been announced.
For the millions of people living with severe food allergies, an allergen is not a prank — it can be a weapon. Police say this case turned on a simple investigative thread: two postage stamps, a kiosk camera and a card number, traced across more than a year.