Attorney General Jeff Sessions was proud to confirm that a suspect, Cesar Sayoc Jr. of Aventura, Florida, was in custody of the FBI in relation to the suspicious device mailings over the past week.
He is being charged with five federal crimes, Sessions shared. Those include: illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents, and threatening interstate communications. These charges could come with up to 48 years in prison.
The suspect in this case, Sessions repeated a few times, is "innocent until proven guilty." But, the AG was clear in noting that those responsible for the past week's crimes can expect the full extent of the law.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency was transporting the devices to their lab in Quantico. In all, they discovered that 13 IEDs were sent to individuals. Those devices included roughly 6 inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, and "energetic material" that is potentially explosive.
"These are not hoax devices," Wray insisted.
Wray said that the FBI found a fingerprint from an envelope that was sent to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). They can confirm the fingerprint belonged to Sayoc Jr.
"We are not out of the woods yet," Wray noted. He asked citizens to help report any potential suspicious activity to authorities.
Sayoc Jr. reportedly sent those potentially dangerous mailings to former President Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, former CIA director John Brennan, liberal billionaire George Soros, former Attorney General Eric Holder, DNI director James Clapper and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).
Editor's Note: This post has been corrected to read that Sayoc Jr. faces up to 48 years, not 58, in prison. The DOJ spoke erroneously earlier.
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