A 55-year-old Garrett Park man has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison after admitting to mailing threatening communications to Jewish institutions and organizations across the country, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday, March 16. Clift Seferlis was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, ordered to pay a $40,000 fine, and assessed $2,200 in special penalties.
According to federal prosecutors, Seferlis previously pleaded guilty in November 2025 to 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs. Court filings said that from at least March 2024 through at least June 2025, he used the U.S. mail to send at least 40 letters and two postcards to more than 25 Jewish institutions and organizations, including synagogues, museums, community centers, schools, nonprofits, and a Jewish delicatessen in multiple jurisdictions. Many of the letters threatened to destroy buildings or injure people.
Federal officials said the mailings were intended to intimidate recipients and interfere with their ability to freely practice their religion. In announcing the sentence, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the defendant had “terrorized Jewish communities across the country” for more than a year, while U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said threats against religious institutions are attacks not only on those communities, but also on freedoms guaranteed to all Americans.
