An Indian American Florida resident has pleaded guilty to charges of sending a threatening voicemail addressed to a Jewish organization in New York.
Deep Alpesh Kumar Patel, 21, faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison however a sentence schedule is yet to be set, a statement by the US Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida, revealed.
According to court documents, Patel plead "guilty to transmitting an interstate threat to injure” after the voicemail in which he identified himself by name and screamed numerous expletives to the organization was revealed.
“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," he was quoted as saying.
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.
He had agreed that he intentionally chose Jewish and/ or Israeli individuals as objects of his threat based on their actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity.
The case, investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, is now being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Risha Asokan.
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