Cesar Sayoc, who in March admitted to mailing more than one dozen bombs to prominent critics of Donald Trump before the 2018 midterm elections, was sentenced in New York to 20 years in prison on Monday.

A fanatical Trump supporter, Sayoc was also a former bodybuilder and male exotic dancer. He sent 16 crude explosives to 13 intended victims across the US, prosecutors said.

None of the bombs, which prosecutors called “improvised explosive devices”, exploded.

Sayoc’s targets included the former vice-president Joe Biden, senator and Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker, former CIA director John Brennan, former national intelligence director James Clapper, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the New York offices of cable news network CNN, actor Robert De Niro, Democratic senator and 2020 candidate Kamala Harris, former attorney general Eric Holder, former US president Barack Obama, billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros, Democrat presidential candidate Tom Steyer and US congresswoman Maxine Walters.

Sayoc’s defense lawyers urged the court to give him the minimum sentence of 10 years, describing him as a troubled man who hit a breaking point after years of untreated mental health issues and steroid addiction.

As his life declined, they argued, the penniless Sayoc turned to spiritual candles and self-help books – including Trump’s writing.

“The books by Donald Trump really resonated with him,” said defense lawyer Ian Marcus Amelkin. “Then he kind of became obsessed with Donald Trump.”

Sayoc spent money on “Trump-branded” suits and ties.

“He looked up to the president, as a father figure,” Amelkin said. “He watched Fox News … he was expressing a lot of hateful ideas and conspiracy theories.”

The steroids, meanwhile, fostered obsession with Democratic party figures, Amelkin said.

“We believe that the president’s rhetoric contributed to Mr Sayoc’s behavior,” Amelkin said.

Amelkin’s invocation of Trump’s rhetoric came in the wake of two mass shootings this weekend that left at least 31 dead. The shootings spurred renewed criticism of Trump’s racist and anti-immigration rhetoric.

Before the El Paso, Texas, shooting, which resulted in 22 deaths, the suspect allegedly posted a racist, anti-Hispanic screed online – which mirrored some of Trump’s past statements.

Prosecutors pushed for a life sentence arguing that Sayoc was aware of what he was doing and that 10 years would have been “wholly insufficient”.

“The defendant created a climate of fear and terror,” said prosecutor Jane Kim, later adding: “Politics cannot justify a terror attack.”

Sayoc, 57, was attentive throughout the proceeding. He wore a grey-and-blue plaid blazer and dark pants, with slicked-back hair. While both prosecutors and defense lawyers made their arguments on sentencing, Sayoc repeatedly read over several pages of the statement he would ultimately read to Rakoff.

“I am beyond so very sorry for what I did,” said Sayoc, who traced each word on the paper with his finger as he read aloud. “I wish more than anything I could turn back time and take back what I did.”

While Manhattan federal court judge Jed Rakoff was not swayed by Amelkin’s arguments about Trump fostering paranoia, he felt that the devices’ failure to detonate spoke to Sayoc’s intent.

“Mr Sayoc was fully capable or concocting pipe bombs capable of exploding,” Rakoff said.

“He hated his victims,” Rakoff said, but not so much as to want them dead.

Because Sayoc did not have a murderous intent, it would be “inappropriate” for him to impose the maximum sentence – life plus 10 years, he added.

Sayoc, who cried as Rakoff was issuing his decision, mouthed “thank you” and gestured as if in prayer.

“Sayoc packed each IED with explosive material and glass shards that would function as shrapnel if the IED exploded,” federal prosecutors in Manhattan said. “Sayoc also attached to the outside of each IED a picture of the intended victim marked with a red ‘X.’”

Sayoc previously pleaded guilty to 65 counts: 16 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction, 16 counts of interstate transportation of an explosive device, 16 counts of conveying a threat in interstate commerce, 16 counts of the illegal mailing of explosives with the intent to kill or injure another, and one count of using an explosive to commit a felony.

The first of Sayoc’s bombs was found in 22 October 2018, in a mailbox at Soros’s New York home. A bomb addressed to Bill and Hillary Clinton was found on 23 October. On 24 October, still more bombs were discovered at the offices or homes of top Democrats.

Authorities traced the parcels to south Florida. They arrested him in late October. At the time of Sayoc’s arrest, he was living in a van that was covered with images of Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence. There were also images of Trump’s opponents showing them with crosshairs on their faces.