Judge to decide fate of man who sent pipe bombs to Dems, CNN

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are calling for a life prison sentence for a Florida amateur body builder who sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN. His lawyers say a decade in prison is enough.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff is scheduled Monday to decide how long Cesar Sayoc will spend behind bars.

The one-time stripper and pizza delivery man from Aventura, Florida, faces a mandatory decade in prison after pleading guilty to explosives charges for mailing 16 inoperative pipe bombs days before the midterm elections last fall.

Sayoc says he never intended for the explosives to work when he mailed them to Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, actor Robert De Niro and several members of Congress.

Prosecutors say a life sentence is "necessary and appropriate."

sent to state lines where bombs were mailed: NY NJ DE CA GA DC + FL </s> (AP) — Prosecutors are calling for a life prison sentence for a Florida amateur body builder who sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN. His lawyers say a decade in prison is enough.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff is scheduled Monday to decide how long Cesar Sayoc will spend behind bars.

The one-time stripper and pizza delivery man from Aventura, Florida, faces a mandatory decade in prison after pleading guilty to explosives charges for mailing 16 inoperative pipe bombs days before the midterm elections last fall.

Sayoc says he never intended for the explosives to work when he mailed them to Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, actor Robert De Niro and several members of Congress.

Prosecutors say a life sentence is “necessary and appropriate.” </s> NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors are calling for a life prison sentence for a Florida amateur body builder who sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN. His lawyers say a decade in prison is enough.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff is scheduled Monday to decide how long Cesar Sayoc will spend behind bars.

The one-time stripper and pizza delivery man from Aventura, Florida, faces a mandatory decade in prison after pleading guilty to explosives charges for mailing 16 inoperative pipe bombs days before the midterm elections last fall.

Sayoc says he never intended for the explosives to work when he mailed them to Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, actor Robert De Niro and several members of Congress.

Prosecutors say a life sentence is "necessary and appropriate."

FILE - This Aug. 30, 2015, file photo released by the Broward County Sheriff's Office shows Cesar Sayoc in Miami. Sayoc, who created a two-week crisis by mailing 16 packages of inoperative pipe bombs packed with fireworks powder and shards of glass to 13 famous Democrats and CNN is scheduled to learn his punishment Monday, Aug. 5, 2019. (Broward County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) </s> US 'pipe bombs': Cesar Sayoc pleads guilty to using weapons of mass destruction

US 'pipe bombs': Cesar Sayoc pleads guilty to using weapons of mass destruction

Cesar Sayoc has pleaded guilty to posting "pipe bombs" to Democrats and critics of US President Donald Trump

The 57-year-old entered his plea in Manhattan, speaking in a shaky voice that at times fell into a whisper.

He admitted to sending 16 devices "designed to look like pipe bombs" consisting of a plastic pipe filled with powder from fireworks and fertiliser, a digital clock and wires.

At one point, Sayoc began to cry. He said: "I know that these actions were wrong and I am extremely sorry."

He said it was not his intention for the devices to explode, kill or injure people - but acknowledged he knew there was a risk they could explode.

Sayoc, who had been working as a part-time pizza deliveryman, grocery worker and is a former stripper, faced charges of using weapons of mass destruction, mailing explosives with an intent to kill or injure people or property, and conveying threats through interstate commerce.

He was charged after his fingerprint was found on one of the devices.

Thirteen explosive devices were sent to several high-profile figures, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Robert De Niro.

All of the devices were intercepted before reaching their intended targets and none exploded.

Sayoc faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced on 12 September. </s> (CNN) The Florida man accused of sending mail bombs to CNN offices and prominent Democrats pleaded guilty on Thursday in Manhattan federal court to 65 felony counts, including using weapons of mass destruction in an attempted domestic terrorist attack.

Cesar Sayoc, 57, admitted in court to having mailed 16 explosive devices to a variety of officials -- primarily Democrats, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris; and major Democratic donors, including George Soros and Tom Steyer -- and to CNN's offices in October 2018.

None of the devices detonated and no one was injured. After a four-day nationwide hunt , FBI agents found and arrested Sayoc in Plantation, Florida.

A courtroom sketch shows Cesar Sayoc during a hearing in a New York federal court last November.

In addition to 16 counts of the use of weapons of mass destruction, Sayoc pleaded guilty to the interstate transport of explosives, the illegal mailing of explosives with the intent to kill or injure and the carrying of explosives during the commission of a felony, among other crimes.

He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and is set to be sentenced on September 12.

Read More </s> March 21 (UPI) -- Cesar Sayoc pleaded guilty Thursday to sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and news outlets last year.

Sayoc, the 57-year-old Florida man, pleaded guilty to to 65 felony counts, including using weapons of mass destruction in an attempted domestic terrorist attack, for sending 16 explosive devices to people including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as CNN's offices in October.

"I sent all 16 devices with the intent to threaten or intimidate," Sayoc told the court. "I know these actions were wrong."

He initially pleaded not guilty to 30 charges that included interstate transport of explosives and mailing explosives, before entering the guilty plea on Thursday.

Sayoc faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and is set to be sentenced on September 12.

"Cesar Sayoc has admitted to acts of domestic terrorism that are repulsive to all Americans who cherish a society built on respectful and non-violent political discourse, no matter how strongly held one's views," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said, according to NBC News. "Our democracy will simply not survive if our political discourse includes sending bombs to those we disagree with."

Sayoc told the court he intended for the devices to look like pipe bombs, but not to detonate, despite packing them with fertilizer and powder from fireworks.

When pressed by U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff however, Sayoc didn't state how he would prevent them from exploding.

"Sir, I was aware of the risk that it would explode," Sayoc stated. </s> (CNN) Cesar Sayoc, who plead guilty to sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Charged with 65 felony counts , Sayoc, 57, faced between 121 months and life in prison. US District Judge Jed Rakoff decided that Sayoc's failure to create bombs that would detonate and harm his targets was "a conscious choice."

"He hated his victims, he wished them no good," said Rakoff, "but he was not so lost as to wish them dead, at least not by his own hand."

Sayoc sent 16 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to 13 targets over two weeks last October, according to court documents obtained by CNN. His targets included former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, actor Robert De Niro and major Democratic donors like George Soros and Tom Steyer. None of the devices detonated, and no one was injured.

He has been held without bail since his arrest in October outside a South Florida auto parts store.

"I am beyond so very sorry for what I did," Sayoc said when given the opportunity to address the court at his sentencing hearing.

"Now that I am a sober man, I know I was a very sick man. I should have listened to my mother, the love of my life. She told me to get help," he told the court.

Though he referred to enduring a sexual assault at a Catholic boarding school and having dyslexia, phobias and PTSD, he also said he "fully" accepted responsibility for his actions.

"I am so very sorry to all the victims ... I will be apologizing to them for the rest of my life," he told the court.

His lawyers, led by Sarah Baumgartel of Federal Defenders of New York, Inc., an independent, nonprofit organization, struck a deal with prosecutors to eliminate a charge that would have carried a mandatory life prison sentence when Sayoc entered his guilty plea in March.

That same agreement included Sayoc's sworn statement that he "sent all of the 16 devices with the intent to threaten and intimidate people and with the intent to injure property" and that he "was aware of the risk that [the devices] would explode."

His sentencing date was originally September 12, but Baumgartel convinced Rakoff to agree to an earlier date, explaining that Sayoc was anxious about the matter.

Prosecutors led by US Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York filed a request in July asking that Sayoc be sentenced to life in prison.

Sayoc's "terrorist attack" was the culmination of years of "hate-filled threats," months of planning and "days of carefully assembling the explosive mailings," according to the prosecution's sentencing memorandum obtained by CNN.

"Cesar Sayoc has now been sentenced for acts of domestic terrorism that are repulsive to all Americans who cherish a society built on respectful and non-violent political discourse," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement.

"Our democracy depends on our debating our strongly held views peacefully and respectfully, and when someone does not, on our prosecuting and punishing those who do not abide by these values," he added.

Each of Sayoc's packages contained a photograph of the intended victim with a red X placed over the face and added "black flags similar in appearance to banners used by ISIS and other foreign terrorist organizations," according to the prosecution.

Sayoc's IEDs included not only explosive powder from fireworks, but also shards of glass, pool chemicals and other ingredients intended to maximize potential injuries, the memorandum stated.

While there is "no dispute" Sayoc's IEDs would not function as designed, they "were dangerous, capable of causing extensive harm, and responsible for shutting down parts of several major metropolitan areas, including train stations, schools, and postal facilities," according to the memorandum.

In their plea for leniency, his attorneys described Sayoc as "born with cognitive limitations and severe learning disabilities." His attorneys also wrote that "a series of traumatic events pushed [him] further and further into the margins of society." These events include his father's abandonment, sexual molestation by a teacher, family estrangement and dependence on drugs, particularly steroids, they stated in court document.

By the time he committed his offenses, "he was living alone in a decrepit and cramped van that had been his home for more than a decade," his lawyers wrote.

"In this darkness, Mr. Sayoc found light in Donald J. Trump," his attorneys wrote. "He came to believe that he was being personally targeted for supporting Trump: Mr. Sayoc thought that anti-Trump forces were trying to hurt him and they were to blame when his van was vandalized."

Sayoc believed he was sending "a hoax device, and he had no true grasp of the severity of his crimes or the potential ramifications of his actions," according to his lawyers: "Now, nearly a year later, he understands how deeply wrong his actions were, and he is truly sorry for sending these packages."

Baumgartel requested the judge sentence Sayoc to just 121 months in prison as "no significant additional prison time" is "necessary to meet the goals of sentencing." </s> Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

The Florida man who pleaded guilty to sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent critics of President Donald Trump last year was sentenced Monday to 20 years prison.

Cesar Sayoc, an ardent Trump supporter, sent homemade bombs created with PVC pipe and glass shards to prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, actor Robert De Niro, as well as to CNN headquarters in New York, according to authorities.

No one was hurt and none of the bombs detonated.

Sayoc pleaded guilty in March to 65 counts, including using weapons of mass destruction and the illegal mailing of explosives with intent to kill or injure. He faced up to life in prison.

The series of mailed pipe bombs, which prosecutors described in court papers as "a domestic terror attack," sparked a nationwide scare last year.

He was arrested on Oct. 26 outside an auto-parts store near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sayoc was living out of a white van plastered with stickers praising Trump and slogans condemning liberals and the media. He would shower at the gym where he works out, a Florida-based cousin previously told NBC News.

Between Oct. 22 and Nov. 2, the FBI and U.S. Postal Service recovered 16 manila padded envelopes containing improvised explosive devices that were believed to have been sent by Sayoc from Florida, prosecutors said.

Shortly after his arrest, law enforcement sources told NBC News that Sayoc had a list of more than 100 potential targets and did online research on political figures, journalists and entertainers.

Besides Clinton, Obama, CNN and De Niro, Sayoc allegedly sent or addressed the devices to former Vice President Joe Biden; former Attorney General Eric Holder; former CIA Director John Brennan; Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; activist Tom Steyer; and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. </s> A Florida man suspected of sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent critics of President Donald Trump last year pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Cesar Sayoc entered the plea Thursday before a federal judge in Manhattan. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

“I know that these actions were wrong and I'm sorry" Sayoc said through tears.

Sayoc, 57, faces the possibility of a life sentence on 65 criminal counts, including using weapons of mass destruction and illegal mailing of explosives with intent to kill, according to the AP.

Sayoc was arrested on Oct. 26. He was charged in what prosecutors have called the “alleged execution of a domestic terrorist attack” that involved mailing 16 improvised explosive devices to 13 victims throughout the country.

None of the bombs detonated and no one was injured.

Sayoc was accused of sending or addressing the devices to a series of high-profile Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actor Robert De Niro and philanthropist George Soros, as well as to the CNN headquarters in New York.

When he was arrested in Florida, Sayoc was living out of a white van plastered with stickers praising Trump and attacking the media.

Court records last week indicated that Sayoc was expected to plead guilty.

William F. Sweeney Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office, said in a statement in November that "Cesar Sayoc deliberately targeted 13 individuals with 16 improvised explosive devices, attempting to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation from California to the eastern seaboard."
Cesar Sayoc is sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending pipe bombs to CNN and several prominent U.S. Democrats including former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden last year.