Mail Bomber: I Was on 274 Supplements, Steroids

A Florida man who mailed crudely made pipe bombs to prominent critics of President Trump said he abused steroids for over 40 years, an issue his lawyers say they'll cite at sentencing. Cesar Sayoc made the assertion in lengthy and rambling letters to a federal judge that were posted in his court case file this week, per the AP. Sayoc, 57, pleaded guilty to explosives-related charges in March and faces up to life in prison when sentenced Aug. 5. His lawyers told the judge that a psychiatrist with specialized knowledge of the effects steroids can have on mental health will compose a report on Sayoc's extensive steroid use. In his letters, Sayoc told US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff that he had abused steroids for more than four decades and was using 274 different supplements and vitamins along with "heavy amounts of steroids" before his arrest.

Since being imprisoned, Sayoc said, he has heard voices and suffered various psychological effects, including depression, high anxiety, vertigo, and loneliness. Explaining his crimes, he said he was never political until he was looking at Facebook on his phone one day when "Donald J. Trump popped up ..." He likened attending a Trump rally to a newfound drug. "I was getting so wrapped up in this new found fun drug," he said in one handwritten letter. Now, though, he says he has sworn off politics. "Politics is dirty, ruthless, deadly," he wrote. "It is a poison. It will drive you crazy like it or not." He wrote that before he mailed explosives, he believed prominent Democrats were encouraging violence, saying he had been attacked personally—including as he returned to his hotel after attending Trump's inauguration. (See video of Sayoc at a Trump rally.)