Mail bomb scare suspect went to college in North Carolina

PLANTATION, Fla. (WTVD) -- The Florida man arrested in connection to mail bombs sent to prominent Democrats, a Hollywood star and CNN's New York studios spent time in North Carolina.

ABC News sources identified 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc of Aventura, Florida, as the man federal agents arrested in connection with the mail-bomb scare.

While Sayoc is from Florida, records show he was born in New York and attended college in North Carolina.

Online records show Sayoc attended Brevard College in 1981. Brevard is a city located south of Asheville.

Sayoc was also a member of the Brevard soccer team.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Sayoc also lived in south Charlotte in 2000.

Court records show Sayoc has a history of arrests. He has been convicted of theft, stolen property and traffic charges and in 2002 on a threat to "throw, place, project or discharge any destructive device."

Sayoc was sentenced in August 2002 for threatening to throw a bomb in a conversation with a Florida utility representative, according to Ronald Lowy, a Miami attorney who represented him. Dade County court records showed Sayoc served a year's probation after a judge signed a discharge certificate in November 2002.

Lowy told The Associated Press that Sayoc "made a verbal threat when he was frustrated at a lack of service." Lowy said Sayoc showed no ability at the time to back up his threat with bomb-making expertise.

A Twitter account that appears to belong to Sayoc includes repeated attacks on billionaire George Soros and praise for President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

The tweets accuse Soros of paying off a victim from the Parkland mass shooting and accusing Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, of being a Soros puppet. The account also praises Trump and other Republicans. The account includes anti-Gillum memes, with one including the caption "$500,000 SOROS PUPPET." The Oct. 24 posting includes a photo of Soros doctored to look like he's holding a puppet meant to resemble Gillum.

Law enforcement officers were seen on television Friday examining a white van, its windows covered with an assortment of stickers, in the city of Plantation in the Miami area. Authorities covered the vehicle with a blue tarp and took it away on the back of a flatbed truck.

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The stickers included images of American flags and what appeared to be logos of the Republican National Committee and CNN, though the writing surrounding those images was unclear.

President Donald Trump promised Sayoc would be prosecuted to the "fullest extent of the law."

The case against Sayoc will be handled by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, ABC News reported. Sayoc is required to appear first in the jurisdiction in which he was arrested, the Southern District of Florida.

The development came amid a coast-to-coast manhunt for the person responsible for a series of explosive devices addressed to CNN and prominent Democrats including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

Law enforcement officials said they had intercepted a dozen packages in states across the country. None had exploded, and it wasn't immediately clear if they were intended to cause physical harm or simply sow fear and anxiety.

Investigators believe the mailings were staggered. The U.S. Postal Service searched their facilities 48 hours ago and the most recent packages didn't turn up. Officials don't think they were sitting in the system without being spotted. They were working to determine for sure. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Records show Sayoc was born in New York and according to an online resume he attended college in North Carolina.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.