Mail bomb suspect Sayoc expected to plead guilty

By Matt Zapotosky | Washington Post

Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man accused of mailing possible package bombs to prominent critics of President Donald Trump across the country, is likely to plead guilty to federal charges, a court docket entry suggests.

The entry in Sayoc’s criminal case in the Southern District of New York says that a March 21 pretrial conference has been changed to a “plea” – an indication that Sayoc is likely to admit guilt. It is not clear to what charges Sayoc will plead guilty, and such agreements can collapse before they are finalized in court.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment beyond confirming the publicly available court record. Sayoc’s defense attorney did not immediately return a message.

Sayoc, 56, who had been living in a van in Aventura, Florida, was charged in November in a 30-count indictment with, among other things, using a weapon of mass destruction, illegal mailing of explosives, and threatening interstate communications. He faced possible life in prison, if convicted.

Authorities accused Sayoc of mailing 16 possible package bombs to the president’s critics across the country, including former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former attorney general Eric Holder and others. None of the devices exploded, though the FBI director has said they were not hoaxes.

The mailers sparked fear across the country when they were discovered in October, and the devices that were found seemed to represent just a fraction of what authorities said Sayoc planned. Prosecutors alleged that the former DJ and strip club bouncer planned for months, running web searches of potential targets for what authorities deemed a “domestic terrorist attack.”