Jeffrey Scott Hobgood, 64, of Troy, N.C., pleaded guilty on Wednesday to threatening a Jewish organization on Oct. 11. Media reports identified the target as the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte.
“I am going to take out every one of you,” Hobgood wrote in an email, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina. (It did not identify the Jewish organization.)
After law enforcement contacted Hobgood, he sent an email on Oct. 13 stating, “Guess what happens to traitors? ... Public execution. ... We are at war . ... If you think you semite pieces of s[***] are going to win, then you are delusional,” per the U.S. attorney’s office.
Hobgood faces up to five years in prison, a fine up to $250,000 or both, it added. He filed a guilty plea last month and entered that plea in court on Wednesday. He will be sentenced in May.
Last month, Hobgood filed a guilty plea after federal prosecutors said he made anti-Semitic threats back in October.
“No one in America should be threatened based on their race, nationality, religion, gender or other protected characteristics,” U.S. Attorney Sandra Hairston stated in October. “Individuals who target other community members will be held accountable for their actions.”
“No one should be threatened with violence or acts of hate because of who they are or how they worship,” stated Robert DeWitt, special agent in charge of the FBI in North Carolina, in October. “The FBI partners with communities of faith across North Carolina. Crimes driven by hate have no place in our state.”
“The Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte continues to work with local elected officials and leaders to improve the security of Jews, to ensure that the voice of our Jewish community is heard and to serve as a resource to victims of antisemitism,” the Federation told WSOC-TV Channel 9 last month.
