TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  -- New Jersey postal workers who were sickened by anthrax in a series of 2001 attacks say they thought the government had forgotten about the case.

So they were surprised to hear that Justice Department officials were about to charge U.S. biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins in the case.

Ivins reportedly learned he was about to be charged and committed suicide this week.

Five people were killed from anthrax-laced letters in the 2001 incident. Seventeen became ill after handling the letters, including six people in New Jersey.

A Route 130 mail facility in Hamilton processed at least four anthrax-laced letters. A Ewing letter carrier and a Hamilton accountant contracted anthrax from contaminated mail.

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