The defendant, Cesar A. Sayoc Jr., a fervent Trump supporter who was arrested last fall in Plantation, Florida, sent homemade bombs created with PVC pipe and glass shards to prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, as well as to CNN and actor Robert DeNiro, authorities said.
The court’s docket entry states only that there is a plea scheduled for Thursday, but it does not indicate what charges Sayoc will plead guilty to. He was indicted in November on federal charges including five counts of using a weapon of mass destruction, and five counts of interstate transportation of an explosive. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Sayoc, 56, was arrested Oct. 26 outside an auto-parts store near Fort Lauderdale where he appeared to be living in a white van covered with images and slogans often found on fringe, right-wing social media accounts, condemning liberals and putting cross hairs over an image of Clinton.
The arrest came after a fast-moving investigation and manhunt, as investigators tried to discover the source of 16 pipe bombs sent through the mail. Authorities said they were able to pull Sayoc’s fingerprints from two bomb packages and found his DNA on components of 10 of the improvised bombs.
His social media feeds were an electronic version of his van. On Twitter and Facebook, he railed against Obama and Oprah Winfrey with misspelled racial epithets, threatened former Vice President Joe Biden and praised Trump and conservative causes.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.