Overview
- Clift Seferlis, 55, admitted to 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstructing the free exercise of religion.
- According to court filings, he sent at least 40 letters and two postcards from March 2024 to June 2025 to more than 25 synagogues and Jewish organizations in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
- Prosecutors said all letters were typed on the same typewriter, many enclosed Israel–Hamas war clippings, postcards were handwritten in block letters, and one letter invoked “Kristallnacht.”
- Several communications threatened the use of a weapon, fire, or explosives, and Seferlis waived venue so out‑of‑district offenses could be charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- He faces a maximum of 169 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and $5.65 million in fines following an investigation led by FBI Philadelphia with support from the Postal Inspection Service and partner agencies.