A North Carolina man, who threatened to “annihilate” those associated with a Charlotte Jewish organization, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and then three years of supervised release and 20 hours of community service over three months.
Jeffrey Scott Hobgood, 64, of Troy, N.C., pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to “communicating threats in interstate commerce” when he threatened Jews on Oct. 11. He admitted to referring to “Israeli jews of David star” and saying he would “take every one of you out.”
He used an expletive to refer to “semite” people who “will be annihilated.” He also threatened the same Jewish group on Oct. 13, “again making a reference to the religion of the recipients,” per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.
“In his plea agreement, Hobgood admitted that he selected the targets of his offense of conviction because of the actual and perceived religion of the victims,” it added.
“It is abhorrent to threaten someone with violence because of who they are or how they worship,” stated Robert DeWitt, the FBI Charlotte special agent in charge.
“The FBI worked tirelessly with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District Of North Carolina to ensure Jeffrey Hobgood could not offer excuses for his hate-filled messages and would instead, serve time in federal prison,” DeWitt said.
