John Reardon of Millis, Mass., who faced up to 30 years in prison and $500,000 in fines for threatening to kill Jews and bomb synagogues, was sentenced in U.S. district court to 26 months, said the U.S. Justice Department.
The 60-year-old will also have to pay $1,260 to the victims and have three years of supervised release after completing his time in jail, the department said on Thursday.
“All Americans have the right to worship freely and without fear,” stated Leah Foley, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “It is a founding principle of our nation.”
“Jewish people, in particular, have been targeted and persecuted for centuries, and in recent years we have seen a deeply troubling rise in antisemitic threats and violence,” Fley said. “Let me be clear. We will not tolerate such conduct—not against the Jewish community, nor against any faith community.”
Reardon pleaded guilty in November to three charges related to phone calls he made, threatening to kill members of the Jewish community and bomb synagogues.
Law enforcement arrested him in January 2024 for leaving voice messages on Jan. 25, 2024, threatening violence at two Massachusetts synagogues—the Reconstructionist congregation Agudas Achim Synagogue in Attleboro and Congregation Etz Chaim, an Orthodox shul in Sharon.
Officers subsequently found that he made 98 calls harassing the Israeli Consulate in Boston between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 29, 2024.
“Reardon’s threats to the synagogues included threats to bomb Jewish houses of worship, as well as threats to kill all Jewish people and stomp Jewish babies dead into the ground, among other violent and antisemitic statements,” the Justice Department stated. “Reardon also stated, ‘Time to prepare the furnaces again. I hope that you people are wiped off the face of the earth.’”
Among the messages he left at the Israeli consulate were “Death to Israel, wipe the Jews” and calling the consulate staff “maggots,” “scum” and “below animals.”
“What John Reardon did is despicable,” stated Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston division. “Spurred by deep-rooted hate, he relentlessly threatened violent, physical harm to members of the Jewish community in greater Boston, spanning two congregations in two different cities, as well as the Israeli consulate.”
