A Montgomery County, Maryland, man has pleaded guilty in federal court to mailing threatening letters and postcards to more than a dozen Jewish institutions in Maryland, Virginia, D.C. and elsewhere over the past 18 months, suggesting that buildings would be destroyed and people killed.
Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, entered guilty pleas Monday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs. While most of the threats involved Jewish institutions in the D.C. area, some were mailed from Pennsylvania, where Seferlis visited often.
According to Seferlis’s plea memorandum, between March 2024 and June 2025, he used the U.S. mail system to send at least 40 letters and two postcards to more than 25 Jewish organizations and entities, including synagogues, Jewish museums, community centers, schools, nonprofit organizations and a delicatessen.
Federal prosecutors determined all of the letters were composed on the same typewriter, and many included news articles about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The threatening postcards were handwritten, in block letters.
A letter to a synagogue in Gaithersburg invoked the German word “Kristallnacht,” which refers to the “Night of Broken Glass,” when anti-Jewish attacks took place in Germany and Austria, on Nov. 9, 1938.
In a footnote in the plea document, prosecutors explained: “Nazis and other Germans burned more than 1,400 synagogues, vandalized thousands of Jewish businesses, imprisoned more than 20,000 Jewish men, and assaulted and killed hundreds of Jewish people.”
In the letter to one of the houses of worship, Seferlis typed: “You do know Kristallnacht is very strong and sooner than later there is going to be PLENTY of broken glass at your synagogue.”
A letter to another institution asked rhetorically, “And you wonder why that nice young couple were gunned down in front of the museum in DC,” suggesting it could happen again. Prosecutors said Seferlis was referring to the killing of two staff members at the Israel Embassy, who were shot near the Capital Jewish Museum in Northwest, D.C. in May 2025.
Another letter, addressed to a Jewish school in Rockville included an article about an Israeli attack in Lebanon. Seferlis wrote: “Does the image mean anything to you? Are you proud to be part of without doubt the most hated diaspora on earth, one with no end to their cruelty? Of course you are not moved by this. You are a jew. Perhaps it might be more effective when the school is in ruins.”
A letter to a rabbi at a synagogue in D.C. included, “Are you concerned for the well being of your congregants?… you might want to be.”
A postcard mailed from Philadelphia included: “Gaza is in ruins. Countless dead. And you want to tell your story. Your story soon will be trying to rebuild your building when we are done playing IDF on it. You ready?” IDF stands for Israel Defense Forces, the national military of Israel.
According to the plea agreement, when Seferlis is sentenced on March 16, 2026, prosecutors and the defense will each argue for what they believe is an appropriate sentence.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Justice said when Seferlis is sentenced in March, he faces a maximum penalty of 169 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $5,650,000 fine.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
