What we know about Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man suspected of mailing 12 suspicious packages

Ledyard King and Bill Theobald and Kevin McCoy and Ali Schmitz USA TODAY

Published 2:22 PM EDT Oct 26, 2018

The Florida man arrested Friday and expected to be charged in connection with the mailing of at least 12 bomb-like devices to prominent Democrats around the country has a criminal record, including a felony charge in 2002 for threatening to “throw, project, place, or discharge any destructive device.” 

Cesar Sayoc, 56, a registered Republican from South Florida, was born in Brooklyn, New York, but moved to Florida as a child, records show. He's a 1980 graduate of North Miami Beach High School whose last known address was Aventura in Miami-Dade County, Florida. 

Sayoc has been identified by law enforcement authorities as being connected with the mailings of a dozen  bomb-like devices to top Democrats, including former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Sayoc was arrested Friday morning in Plantation, Florida, near an auto store.

Here's what we know about Sayoc:

He has an extensive criminal record:

Online records show that Sayoc has a string of arrest records that dates back to 1991 for alleged theft and drug offenses, along with traffic infractions. As recently as May 2015, he was arrested in Palm Beach for an alleged retail theft. He was found guilty in October 2015, the records show.

In 2002, according to online court records from Miami-Dade County, Sayoc was charged with threatening to “throw, project, place, or discharge any destructive device.” The records don't detail the specific circumstances of the incident but a destructive device is described in the statute as a “bomb, grenade, mine, rock, missile, pipebomb or similar device.”

It is a second-degree felony. He was placed on one-year probation.

Sayoc also was arrested in February 2004 on four counts of possession and sale of steroids, according to Broward County Court records. The charges were all dismissed in August 2005 after he had been sentenced to an 18-month probation on two counts of possession and unlawful use of a driver’s license.

He filed for bankruptcy in 2012

Sayoc filed for bankruptcy, in June 2012. At the time, he was living with his mother and owed more than $20,000 to creditors, mostly banks, records show.

His total employment income the year before was just over $7,500. And he had collected about $16,000 in unemployment between 1009 and 2010, according to the bankruptcy records.

Syoc also lost his Fort Lauderdale home in a foreclosure in September 2009, according to court records. He filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2012. The court records in that case state he had just $4,175 in assets, including a 2001 Chevy Tahoe with 285,000 miles, and $21,109 in liabilities.

He had trouble with businesses

Sayoc listed his employment as store manager of Hassanco Investments in Hollywood, Florida, from his bankruptcy filing. He received unemployment benefits in 2009 and 2010, the filing stated.

Online Florida business records show that Sayoc in September 2016 registered as the manager for a new Hallandale Beach, Florida, business called Native American Catering & Vending LLC. The state listed the business as inactive last month.

He also previously was the president of a Hallandale Beach company called Proud Native American One Low Price Drycleaning, the state business records show. Registered in 2001, that business was declared inactive the following year, the records show.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More News https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/26/who-cesar-sayoc-florida-man-arrested-bomb-like-devices/1774140002/

Bagikan Berita Ini