Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man accused of sending 16 letter bombs to liberal public figures, says he never meant for anyone to get hurt. Sayoc has pleaded guilty in federal court in New York and is now waiting to be sentenced. But after he entered his guilty plea, the 57 year old Sayoc sent a handwritten letter to the judge in charge of his sentencing. Sayoc said that he never meant to hurt anyone and that he had never expected the explosive devices to actually go off. The letter, written by hand on lined paper, is dated March 23, just one day after Sayoc pleaded guilty in court. It was entered into the public record on April 2. You can read the fulll letter to Judge Rakoff here.
After receiving the letter, Judge Rakoff issued an order, on April 2, saying that he wanted both prosecutors and defense lawyers to read Sayoc’s letter and determine whether any “steps” should be taken in the case.
Sayoc Said He Was ‘Emotional’ & Didn’t Understand What to Say at his Plea Hearing
GettyMail bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc.
Sayoc pleaded guilty on March 22 to acts of “domestic terrorism,” after 16 packages containing small explosive devices were mailed to public figures. Former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire financier George Soros, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among those who Sayoc allegedly sent packages to. Sayoc was teary and emotional at his plea hearing. “I know that these actions were wrong and I am extremely sorry,” he told the judge. Sayoc said at the time that he never meant for the explosive devices to go off. But he acknowledged that he knew it was possible that the crude bombs might explode.
But in a letter to the judge, dated on March 23, Sayoc seemed to say that he hadn’t fully understood what he was doing when he entered the guilty plea. Sayoc also said that he had been in a very emotional state and hadn’t really understood the statement that his lawyer had prepared for him to read in court. Sayoc also said that in fact, he had never known that the explosive devices he sent through the mail could have hurt anyone. He said that during his plea hearing, he was just repeated what his lawyers had instructed him to say. Now, Sayoc said, he was writing a letter to the judge to “clarify” his real position:
“I am writing you to clarify and understanding of part of my statement question you asked myself after reading the statement prepared by my attorney I read at my plea hearing,” Sayoc’s letter says. It goes on, “Your Honor Jed S Rakoff, you asked after reading my paper statement prepared by my attorney, “Mr Sayoc did you knowingly know the devices would hurt or harm anyone. Your honor my attorney instructed me to say yes. In my heart I wanted to say know.”
Sayoc went on,
“I didn’t have a full understanding of what to say. I answered under extreme emotional circumstances and not sound comprehending circumstances. It was right after I broke down and cried reading the statement by my attorney. ”
Sayoc’s Letter Stresses That He Never Thought the Bombs He Mailed Could Go Off
Sayoc said that later, after the hearing, he had time to think over what he had said and that he wanted to explain himself. He wrote:
“Under no circumstances my intent was to hurt or harm anyone. The intention was only to intimidate and scare. I want to clarify my statement, correct and I quote under sound mind and in my words, “Know, what started out as hoax, decoys were not ever meant to work or could have worked, hurt or harm anyone.”
The long list of people who were sent suspicious packages includes George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Maxine Waters, Robert De Niro, and John Brennan (in that case, the package was addressed to him, care of CNN’s Manhattan headquarters.) The packages all contained a picture of the addressee marked with a red “X,” according to the criminal complaint. According to the FBI, all of the suspicious items were sent in manila envelopes with bubble wrap interior. The packages had computer-printed address labels and each envelope had six Forever stamps. All of the packages had a return address of “DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ” [sic] in Florida. Nobody was hurt by the explosives, which were all intercepted and successfully disabled by law enforcement officials.