A Mississippi man was arrested early yesterday and charged with sending ricin-tainted letters to President Obama, a senator and a judge — just days after his online nemesis was cleared of the same charges, the FBI said.

J. Everett Dutschke, 41 — described by a neighbor in Tupelo, Miss., as a “weird character” — was arrested at 12:50 a.m. “without incident,” according to the FBI. Authorities began looking into Dutschke for the ricin letters after a defense lawyer for the original suspect linked him to the crime.

Lawyers for Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, argued that their client had been framed.

“We are relieved, but also saddened,” said Curtis’ attorney, Christi McCoy. “This crime is nothing short of diabolical.” The letters, which tests showed were tainted with ricin, were sent to Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and to an 80-year-old judge, Sadie Holland. No one was hurt by the substance.

The motive for mailing the letters is unclear.

But Holland knows both Dutschke and Curtis. She sentenced Curtis to six months in jail on assault charges in 2004 and her family has had political run-ins with Dutschke.

Dutschke, who describes himself on Twitter as “a philosopher trapped in the body of an insurance agent,” was charged yesterday with “retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin.”

He is expected to appear tomorrow in a federal court in Oxford, Miss., and faces life in prison if convicted.

The arrest was not the first for Dutschke, who had been free on $25,000 bond on child-molestation charges filed against him in January.