CESAR Sayoc, the Florida man accused of sending pipe bombs to critics of US President Donald Trump, has appeared in a New York court and held without bail.
Sayoc, 56, appeared before a Manhattan federal court for just a few minutes. He did not fight detention and was remanded, an official at the US Attorney’s office said. He will need to be indicted before November 12.
Sayoc, who was transferred from federal custody in Florida, hugged his lawyer after a hearing in which Assistant US Attorney Jane Kim called him “a serious risk of danger to the public and a flight risk.”
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READ NOWAssistant Federal Defender Sarah Baumgartel declined to comment after the hearing, in which Sayoc presented himself as polite and soft-spoken and responded “Yes, sir” to questions from the judge.
His lawyers decided not to seek his release on bail after prosecutors released a letter outlining more evidence against him, including DNA linking him to 10 of the explosive devices and fingerprints on two of them.
Sayoc was arrested on October 26 and charged with mailing explosive devices to former president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, actor Robert De Niro and others.
The improvised explosive devices were sent to numerous Democrats, Trump critics and media outlets in a scare that heightened tensions before the crucial midterm elections, happening the same day as his court appearance.
He was arrested a week ago in South Florida where he had been living in a van, which was covered with stickers of Mr Trump and showing images of some of the president’s opponents with red crosshairs over their faces.
Sayoc, a registered Republican with a criminal history and reported past as a stripper, faces nearly 50 years in prison if convicted on five federal charges that were filed in New York because some of the devices were recovered there.
His lawyers decided not to seek release on bail after prosecutors released a letter outlining more evidence against him, including DNA linking him to 10 of the explosive devices and fingerprints on two of them.
Other evidence includes online searches Sayoc did on his laptop and mobile phone for addresses and photos of some of his intended targets, which included former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, California Senator Kamala Harris and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
Packages were also mailed to CNN in New York and Atlanta. Prosecutors say the most recent crude bomb was recovered Friday in California, addressed to the liberal activist Tom Steyer.
None of the devices exploded, and no one was injured in the pipe bomb scare.