Man who sent bombs to Democrats gets 20 years

NEW YORK — Cesar A. Sayoc Jr., the fervent supporter of President Donald Trump who rattled the nation last fall when he sent homemade pipe bombs to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison.

Sayoc pleaded guilty in March to mailing 16 bombs to people he considered to be Trump’s enemies. The FBI said the devices were packed with powder from fireworks, fertilizer, a pool chemical and glass fragments that would function as shrapnel, but they would not have worked as designed.

Sayoc’s lawyers argued in a recent court filing that Sayoc, 57, suffered from a long untreated mental illness and drew inspiration from the president for his terror campaign.

In court Monday, Sayoc appeared to struggle with nerves as he read from a handwritten statement before sentencing. “I wish more than anything I could turn back time and take back what I did,” he said. “But I want you to know, your honor, with all my heart and soul, I feel the pain and suffering of these victims.”

Judge Jed S. Rakoff of U.S. District Court in Manhattan said the design flaws in the bombs — including timers that were not set to go off and fuse wiring that was inoperable — indicated Sayoc had only intended to scare his victims, not harm them.

Sayoc, though no firearms expert, was capable of concocting a pipe bomb that could explode. His decision not to was a conscious choice, the judge said.

As the judge announced the sentence, Sayoc broke into sobs. Then he looked up at the ceiling and mouthed, “Thank you.”

In October, after a fourday manhunt, Sayoc was arrested in a decrepit white van that was plastered with bombastic stickers that glorified Trump and placed Obama and Clinton in red crosshairs.

Prosecutors in the office of Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, had sought a life sentence for Sayoc.