Pleads Guilty, Mailing Threatening Communications, Jewish Institutions — Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threatening Communications to Jewish Institutions and Civil Rights Violations | United States Justice Department.
announcement Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threatening Communications to Jewish Institutions and Civil Rights Violations Monday, November 17, 2025 Share Facebook X LinkedIn Email For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs The Justice Department announced that Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, entered a plea of guilty today before U.S. Kearney on 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs, arising from numerous threats sent to Jewish organizations and entities.Seferlis was charged with those offenses by information last month, following his
arrest in June on a criminal complaint and warrant in connection with such threats.As presented in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, from at least March 2024 through at least June 2025, Seferlis used the United States mail to transmit at least 40 letters and at least two postcards to more than 25 Jewish organizations and entities located in multiple jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, synagogues, Jewish museums, Jewish community centers, Jewish schools, Jewish non-profit organizations, and a Jewish delicatessen. Postal Service (USPS) to deliver threatening communications to these
institutions on or about the following dates:Jewish Institution 1, a synagogue in Washington, D.C.(March 6, 2024; January 24, 2025)Jewish Institution 2, an entity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania(April 4, 2024; July 29, 2024; January 18, 2025; March 5, 2025; May 7, 2025; May 9, 2025)Jewish Institution 3, an entity in Fairfax, Virginia(January 18, 2025)Jewish Institution 4, a synagogue in Gaithersburg, Maryland(February 3, 2025)Jewish Institution 5, an entity in Fairfax, Virginia(February 7, 2025)Jewish Institution 6, a synagogue in Hagerstown, Maryland(March 2025)Jewish Institution 7, an entity in Rockville, Maryland(May 12, 2025)Jewish Institution 8, an entity in Washington, D.C.(May 29, 2025;