Suspect agrees to transfer to New York City for trial
MIAMI — Pipe bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc agreed Friday to be transferred to New York to face charges of sending explosive devices to prominent Democrats, critics of President Trump and media outlets.
Attorneys for Sayoc said Friday in Miami federal court that it’s better if his lawyers in New York can take the case as soon as possible. They could still seek a bail hearing there, but prosecutors say he should remain jailed, given the magnitude of the charges and the strong evidence against him.
“We wanted to make sure that all of his constitutional rights were preserved,” said attorney James Benjamin after the hearing. “We feel we’ve done all we can.”
The timing of the transfer is uncertain. It can happen quickly or take weeks, and is not usually announced ahead of time by the U.S. Marshals Service, Benjamin said. Even defense lawyers are not informed.
Sayoc is accused of sending improvised explosive devices to numerous Democrats, Trump critics and media outlets. He was arrested a week ago outside a southern Florida auto parts store in a white van in which he had been living, a vehicle covered with stickers of Trump and showing images of some of the president’s opponents with red crosshairs over their faces.
No bombs exploded and no one was injured. Still, Sayoc faces nearly 50 years in prison if convicted on five federal charges that were filed in New York because some of the devices were recovered there.
Also Friday, the FBI confirmed a second suspicious package addressed to billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer was intercepted at a Burlingame mail processing facility. Last week, a package containing an explosive device addressed to Steyer was found in the same facility, prompting an evacuation.
“The package was very similar in appearance to the others,” Katherine Zackel, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s San Francisco office, said of the second package, found by workers Thursday night.
Sayoc’s lawyers decided not to seek release on bail after Florida prosecutors released a letter outlining more evidence against him, including DNA linking him to 10 of the explosive devices and fingerprints on two of them.
Other evidence includes online searches Sayoc did on his laptop and cell phone for addresses and photos of some of his intended targets, which included former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. Packages were also mailed to CNN in New York and Atlanta.
The laptop also has a file with the address in Sunrise, Fla., of the office of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. That office was used as the return address on the packages containing the pipe bombs, according to the FBI.