Indian-origin man from Florida pleads guilty to threatening Jewish organization in New York

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Deep Alpesh Kumar Patel, 21, of Sarasota, pleaded guilty Dec. 15, 2023, to making threatening phone calls to a Jewish center in New York.

The United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced Patel’s guilty plea to the charge of “transmitting an interstate threat to injure.” Patel faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, on October 21, 2023, Patel left a threatening voicemail at a Jewish organization in New York City in which he identified himself by name, screamed numerous expletives, “If I had a chance, I would kill every single one of you Israelis. Every single one of you! Cause mass genocide of every single Israeli.” Patel also admitted that he had called a synagogue in Temple Terrace, Florida the same day, and had left another expletive-laden voicemail threatening to close it down.

Patel agreed to a special finding that he intentionally selected Jewish and/or Israeli individuals as the objects of his threat based on their actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity.