A man who mailed 16 pipe bombs to top Democrats including George Soros in the days running up to the 2018 US Midterm elections, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Cesar Sayoc pleaded guilty after mailing the bombs days before the Nov. 2018 midterm elections. The charges included using a weapon of mass destruction and acts of domestic terrorism.

The destination addresses of the posted parcels included former President Barack Obama, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, presidential candidates Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and actor Robert De Niro.

The package intended for Mr Soros was opened on October 15 last year in his New York home by an employee, who called police. Soros was not at home when the bomb was discovered.

Prosecutors requested that Mr Sayoc receive life imprisonment for his acts, but Judge Rakoff said it was clear the bombs were designed to not detonate.

“He hated his victims, he wished them no good, but he was not so lost as to wish them dead, at least not by his own hand,” the judge said.

Mr Sayoc is reported to have frequently attended events in support of President Donald Trump, and according to Mr Sayoc’s lawyers was a Trump “superfan”.

His lawyers also claimed that Mr Sayoc suffered from a long-untreated mental illness, compounded by an excessive use of steroids which had made him isolated and obsessive.

In a sentencing memo, they wrote that “In this darkness, Mr Sayoc found light in Donald J. Trump.”