A Florida man who was a staunch supporter of Donald Trump and mailed numerous pipe bombs to his critics was sentenced to prison on Monday.
Cesar Altieri Sayoc was handed 20 years behind bars for his actions last year, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office — Southern District of New York.
Sayoc built and mailed 16 improvised explosive devices to those he believed were critics of the president, which included CNN, Bill and Hillary Clinton and actor Robert De Niro, among others.
Sayoc pleaded guilty to 65 counts on March 21 before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who also imposed his sentence Monday.
None of the devices exploded, but they were capable of detonating.
“Though thankfully no one was hurt by his actions, Sayoc’s domestic terrorism challenged our nation’s cherished tradition of peaceful political discourse,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement.
The FBI arrested Sayoc in Plantation, Florida, on Oct. 26, 2018. He was apprehended fewer than five days after the Oct. 22 recovery of the first IED, which he mailed to George Soros in New York.
“Cesar Sayoc has now been sentenced for acts of domestic terrorism that are repulsive to all Americans who cherish a society built on respectful and non-violent political discourse,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement. “Our democracy depends on our debating our strongly held views peacefully and respectfully, and when someone does not, on our prosecuting and punishing those who do not abide by these values.”
