Overview
- U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney also imposed three years of supervised release, a $40,000 fine, and a $2,200 special assessment.
- Court filings say Clift A. Seferlis sent at least 40 letters and two postcards to more than 25 Jewish organizations from March 2024 through June 2025, often threatening to destroy buildings or injure people.
- He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs.
- Prosecutors described the writings as vile and anti-Semitic and said they aimed to intimidate congregants and disrupt religious practice, while victims reported fear at institutions including Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
- The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service led the investigation, and at sentencing Seferlis apologized and cited outrage over the war in Gaza as his motive while claiming he never intended to act.