Photos of targets' homes, Michelle Obama's driver's licence found on pipe bomb suspect's phone: prosecutors

Pipe bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc searched for addresses of his targets online and had photos of many of them on his cellphone,including one of Michelle Obama's driver's licence, federalprosecutors saidin a letter outliningevidence of their case.

The letter sent by Justice Department prosecutors to a Miami federal judge also says Sayoc, who was arrested last week, began plotting the "domestic terror attack" in July while living in his van.

Authorities seized an old whitevan that prosecutors say belonged to Sayoc. Itwas plastered with photos praising Donald Trump andtargeting his critics, depicting some themwith red crosshairs on their faces.

TheFBI says Sayocultimately mailed 15 improvised explosivedevices to prominent Democrats, critics of President Donald Trumpand media outlets before he was arrested last week.

Sayoc, 56,faces five federal charges in Manhattancarrying a combined maximum sentence of 48 years behind bars if he's convicted, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors have 'powerful proof'

Prosecutors said in the letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge EdwinTorres that Sayoc should remain jailed without bail. A detention hearing as well as a hearing on when Sayoc should be sent to New York to stand trial are set for Friday in Miami. Additional charges arelikely, they said.

"Because of the powerful proof that the defendant perpetratedthese acts, he poses a substantial danger to the community," the letter says. "In lightof the consequences at issue and the likelihood of conviction, thedefendant is also a substantial flight risk. Therefore, pretrialdetention is appropriate."

Among Sayoc's online searches for addresses, prosecutors said,were for former president Barack Obama, former secretary of stateHillary Clinton, billionaire George Soros, California Sen. KamalaHarris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former attorney general EricHolder and for "cnn building." The FBI recovered explosive devicessent to all of them, among others.

The prosecutors' letter said Sayoc's cellphone contains photosincluding Soros, the homes of Obama andformer vice-president Joe Biden,and the driver's licence belonging toObama's wife, Michelle.

A laptop computer found in the van also has a file with the address in Sunrise, Fla., of the office of U.S. Rep. DebbieWasserman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic NationalCommittee. That office was used as the return address on thepackages containing the pipe bombs, according to the FBI. Thecomputer file was labelled "Debbie W.docx."

In addition, prosecutors said the FBI so far has found DNAevidence linkingSayocto10 of the improvised explosive devices.

Sayoc was arrested last Friday outside a South Florida auto partsstore after the pipe bombs packed with glass shardsbegan surfacing around the country. Noneof them exploded and no one was injured, but investigators say theycontained real explosive material.