The US Department of Justice announced Monday that Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, pleaded guilty to sending numerous threats to Jewish organizations in Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., JNS reported.
According to the Justice Department, Seferlis made the threats between March 2024 and June 2025, when he was arrested. His targets included more than 25 Jewish institutions, among them synagogues, Jewish museums, Jewish community centers, Jewish schools, Jewish non-profit organizations, and a Jewish delicatessen.
The department stated that Seferlis sent letters and postcards “threatening to destroy physical buildings and/or to injure individuals.” Some of the threats referenced dangerous weapons, fire, or explosives.
One chilling missive to a Philadelphia institution noted, "the hatred toward the institution, and especially the nation of Israel, is at an all-time high and is only getting worse." Other communications evoked "Kristallnacht" and implied future destruction.
Seferlis is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16. He faces a maximum sentence of 169 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $5.65 million.