20 Years In Jail for Cesar Sayoc, Pipe Bomb Mailer

Cesar Sayoc will serve only 20 years in jail for sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to critics of President Trump, including Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, as well as the actor Robert De Niro and CNN headquarters in New York, according to authorities.

Sayoc’s other potential victims were 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, according to NBC News.

The pipe bombs were homemade by Sayoc from PVC pipe and glass shards. No one was hurt and none of the bombs detonated but prosecutors described it in court papers as “a domestic terror attack.”

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When Sayoc was arrested on October 26, he was living out of a white van plastered with stickers praising Trump and slogans condemning liberals and the media. He had a hit list of more than 100 potential targets.

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, according to NBC News. He faced life in prison.

But the judge did not think that Sayoc deserved life in prison for the attacks. Judge Jed Rakoff said that Sayoc was just extra paranoid because of steroid abuse and that Sayoc intentionally designed the bombs so they would not detonate.

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“Since Mr. Sayoc is 57 years old, and since federal law does not permit parole, the likelihood is that Mr. Sayoc, even if he proves to be a model prisoner and qualifies for so-called ‘good time,’ will be about 75 years old before he can be released,” Rakoff’s memo stated. “No one can pretend this is not, in real terms, substantial punishment; but, in the Court’s view, it is no more, and no less, than he deserves.”

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