Florida pipe bomb suspect agrees to N.Y. transfer

MIAMI — The man accused of sending more than a dozen possible pipe bombs to Democrats and critics of the president across the country will remain in custody while he is transferred to New York.

Cesar Sayoc said only “yes, sir” and “thank you, sir” during a minutes-long hearing in federal court Friday. He appeared to be nervous and uncertain, glancing several times at his attorneys a few seats away from him.

The appearance came just a few hours before the FBI confirmed it had recovered in California another suspicious package addressed to major Democratic donor Tom Steyer. If tied to Sayoc, it would mark the 16th package that authorities be- Sayoc lieve he sent.

Three have been recovered since Sayoc was taken i nto custody, though authorities have warned more could be making their way through the mail system after his arrest. The latest package was discovered Thursday night.

Sayoc agreed he would not contest his move to New York, where federal prosecutors charged him last week with sending possible pipe bombs to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder and actor Robert De Niro.

The hearing marked the second appearance in federal court for Sayoc, 56, a strip club worker and Trump supporter who had been living out of his van in Aventura, Fla. It was held in Miami because Sayoc was arrested in Florida.

A precise date has not been set for his appearance in federal court in New York, though Sayoc’s attorneys said they hope it occurs soon. James Benjamin, one of the attorneys, said Sayoc is being held in the isolation unit of the federal detention center, though he “seems to be OK, considering.”

Daniel Aaronson, another of Sayoc’s attorneys, said the evidence against Sayoc was “flimsy.”

Benjamin noted that authorities have said they have a “possible” DNA match linking him to a device.

“That’s a word that doesn’t make it in a court of law,” Benjamin said. “They have to come up with evidence.”

In addition to the possible DNA match, the FBI has said it connected Sayoc to the devices, none of which exploded, via fingerprints. Prosecutors said in a recent filing that Sayoc had run internet searches on potential targets as far back as July.