Florida man pleads guilty to mailing bombs to Trump foes
NEW YORK — A Florida man pleaded guilty Thursday to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump in a wave of attacks that harmed no one but spread fear of political violence across the U.S. for days leading up to last fall’s midterm elections.
Cesar Sayoc, 57, shackled at the ankles, briefly sobbed as he entered the plea before a New York federal judge.
“I’m extremely sorry,” he said, speaking so softly that sometimes he was told to repeat himself. Though he said he never meant for the devices to explode, he conceded that he knew they could.
He could get life in prison at sentencing Sept. 12 on 65 counts, including 16 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction and mailing explosives with intent to kill. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a charge that carried a mandatory life sentence.
One charge carries a mandatory 10-year prison term that must be served in addition to his sentence on 64 other counts.
Sayoc sent 16 rudimentary bombs — none of which detonated — to targets including Hillary Clinton, former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former U.S. president Barack Obama and actor Robert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta.
The bombs began turning up over a five-day stretch weeks before the hotly contested midterms, contributing to an already tense political environment. They were mailed to addresses in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.
Sayoc was arrested in late October at a Florida auto parts store. He had been living in a van plastered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces.
On Thursday, he told the judge he made objects designed to look like pipe bombs and filled them with explosive powder from fireworks, fertilizer and glass shards, accompanied by wires and a digital alarm clock.
“Did you intend they would explode?” Judge Jed Rakoff asked. “No, sir,” Sayoc said. “What would prevent powder from fireworks from exploding?” Rakoff asked.
“I was aware of the risk they would explode,” Sayoc said.
The first bomb was discovered Oct. 22 in a padded envelope in a mailbox at an estate in New York City’s northern suburbs owned by the billionaire George Soros, a liberal political activist.