Cesar Sayoc gets 20 years in prison for mailing pipe bombs to Trump critics


Cesar Sayoc has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after mailing pipe bombs to people and entities perceived to be critics of President Trump.
Sayoc sent 16 packages to Democratic politicians and news entities back in October, and pleaded guilty to 65 counts and to sending the packages back in March. Despite his lawyers arguing for a 10-year sentence due to an apparent untreated mental illness, Sayoc received 20 years in prison in a Monday appearance in a Manhattan federal court, The New York Times reports.
On Monday, Sayoc listed off the names of the people he'd mailed packages to, including former President Barack Obama, billionaire donor George Soros, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "I will be apologizing to them for the rest of my life," Sayoc said in court. He also claimed that "now that I am a sober man, I know that I was a sick man" when he chose to send the packages. Sayoc's public defenders had previously attributed his crimes to a mix of steroids and a heavy diet of Fox News.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sayoc sparked panic and a frenzy of false alarms when he sent out 16 packages to Democratic politicians, liberal donors, and news entities back in October. The devices inside the packages were crude pipe bombs that probably wouldn't have ignited, and his lawyers claimed Sayoc "did not think that the devices were capable of exploding." Government prosecutors argued that the devices' actual danger wasn't the point.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants