Cesar Sayoc, 56, appeared in Miami federal court on Monday for the first time since his Friday arrest
MAGAbomber Cesar Altieri Sayoc appeared in federal court in Miami today to face charges over explosive devices he allegedly sent to two former Presidents and a host of prominent Democrat political figures including Robert DeNiro and billionaire George Soros.
Sayoc, 56, appeared to mouth ‘I love you’ to someone, believed to be his sister, in the public benches in the packed U.S. district court room, which was standing-room only for dozens of media members.
He appeared tearful at times and spoke intently with his defense team led by Jamie Benjamin, while looking around the room at those gathered for his hearing.
Sayoc appeared before Judge Edwin G Torres shortly after 2pm, dressed in orange and beige overalls with his gray hair in a ponytail. He was handcuffed and shackled at the feet and waist.
The judge asked if he understood the charges against him, to which he replied: ‘yes.’ The brief hearing lasted less than five minutes.
The former male stripper and part-time pizza delivery man faces five federal charges including assaulting a federal officer.
Sayoc was arrested on Friday in Florida after investigators said they identified him through fingerprint and DNA evidence.
Sayoc, 56, (pictured in a courtroom sketch) appeared to mouth ‘I love you’ to someone in the public benches of the packed U.S. district court room, which was standing-room only for dozens of media members
Sayoc appeared before Judge Edwin G Torres shortly after 2pm, dressed in orange and beige overalls with his gray hair in a ponytail. He was handcuffed and shackled at the feet and waist
Sayoc was arrested in connection with 14 explosive devices sent to critics of Donald Trump this week. The device pictured above was addressed to former CIA head John Brennan at CNN
The judge ordered Sayoc to appear in court for a pre-trial detention hearing this Friday, where it will be decided whether he will be kept in Florida or his case will be moved to the Southern District of New York.
His lawyers asked the judge to intervene with the prison warden after they said they have so far only been able to speak to their client behind glass.
Outside court, his attorney Daniel Aaronson declined to say who had hired his firm but said that they were seeking ‘the opportunity to speak to him as a lawyer should’ and they wanted to have a better grasp of the case before making any further statements.
Sayoc is accused of sending bubble-wrapped manila envelopes to elite Democrats such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.
The packages were intercepted from Delaware to California. At least some listed a return address of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Wasserman Schultz represents the Florida district where Sayoc, a former male stripper, pizza driver and strip club DJ, lived in a van covered with bumper stickers praising President Donald Trump, disparaging Democrats and CNN and showing rifle crosshairs superimposed over leading liberals such as Mrs Clinton and filmmaker Michael Moore.
Authorities say Sayoc faces more than 50 years in prison if convicted on all charges. None of the bombs exploded and no-one was injured.
Also on Monday, it was revealed Sayoc kept a list of elected officials and others, who investigators believe were intended targets, according to an official.
Sayoc is accused of sending bubble-wrapped manila envelopes to elite Democrats such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden (Sayoc above at a Trump rally)
Sayoc appeared tearful at times and spoke intently with his defense team (pictured leaving court on Monday) led by Jamie Benjamin, while looking around the room at those gathered for his hearing
The official said authorities had recovered soldering equipment, a printer, and stamps similar to those used on the package bombs in the investigation into 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc, who was arrested last week in Florida.
Authorities believe Sayoc was putting explosives together in his van, which was impounded on Friday as Twitter users shared photos of the vehicle, which was covered in stickers supporting Trump.
Other stickers featuring red shooting targets over the faces of Obama, Hillary Clinton, Green Party Leader Jill Stein, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore and CNN commentator Van Jones were juxtaposed next to an image of Trump standing triumphantly on top of a military tank.
Prominently featured on the side of the van are the words: ‘I Am Donald Trump & I Approve This Message’.
Many of the messages sound eerily similar to Trump’s own comments, such as one poster with the words ‘THE SWAMP’ over the faces of top Democratic leaders, left-wing pundits and members of the media.
Below that image are the words ‘DISHONEST MEDIA’ and ‘CNN SUCKS’ next to a photo of Jones with a target on his chest.
At the top of the back passenger-side window are several large stickers from Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign which show the then-candidate and his running mate Mike Pence with their thumbs up.
A photo circulating on social media shows a man driving the sticker-covered van in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 18
Gureghian said inside Sayoc’s van (pictured) were puppets, mannequins, and Barbie dolls all with their heads cut off, and even nooses
This isn’t the first time Sayoc has gotten into trouble with the law.
Sayoc was a career criminal who at times turned violent according to arrests reports and allegations made by his victims.
In 1994, his own grandmother, Viola Altieri, accused him of domestic violence.
She sought a restraining order at the time but a judge then dropped the charges two weeks later for reasons that are unclear.
Sayoc’s grandmother then refiled charges just a few days later before they were dropped as well a short time later.
He was also picked up in 2002 for making a bomb threat while in conversation with a a Florida utility representative and arrested two years later for juicing and distributing steroids and testosterone.
These arrests happened across at least three states, and yet somehow Sayoc managed to avoid jail every time and instead be put on probation.
It was his multiple arrests that lead to his capture, with his fingerprints and DNA he submitted in 2014 and 2015 arrests helping authorities nab him on Friday.
Sayoc was born in Brooklyn, and moved to Florida while still in school.
He then left Florida to attend two years of college at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Sayoc describes himself on one of his Twitter feeds as a former professional soccer player, wrestler and cage fighter.
He also claims to be a choreographer and to have briefly worked with an all-male revue, though it is not clear in what capacity.
‘Career decision of becoming a Horse Doctor was always a love for animals, which were here first and never do anything to anyone,’ his LinkedIn bio says.
‘And respect all living things.’
That appears to be the extent of his education, and after leaving the school he next popped up in Florida, where he was arrested in 1991 for a felony.
Sayoc (left in 1995 and right in 2004) was revealed to have a lengthy rap sheet and has been arrested multiple times over the years, including a domestic violence against his grandmother
It was recently revealed Sayoc had been married to former stripper Roberta Altieri, but his former mother-in-law says the relationship lasted only a few months.
Sayoc’s former mother-in-law Billie Mode told NewsOK.com that the accused bomber and her Oklahoma-raised daughter met when they were both stripping, and admitted that while she only met the man once, at her stepdaughter’s graduation, he seemed well-suited to his profession.
Roberta (above) was almost killed in in a 2016 motorcycle crash
‘He did a lot of birthday parties, telegrams, stuff like that,’ Mode said of Sayoc, who was travelling the country at the time.
‘He was such a good looking hunk of man. For his profession, you know, he had the muscles.’
She also said that she and her daughter had lost touch over the years.
In 2016, Roberta almost lost her life when her motorcycle crashed into another car head-on while she was driving in Norman, Oklahoma.
Roberta was in critical condition for weeks, but ultimately managed to pull through.
She filed for divorce in 2004, taking out a newspaper notice after sumbiting her petition for divorce since she was not able to find her husband.
Meanwhile, when the two married in Conway, South Carolina back in 1998, Sayoc wrote that he was four years younger than his age at the time.
Sayoc was 36 when the two wed while Roberta was 27 at the time.