A federal judge in Brooklyn has sentenced the head of a violent neo-Nazi network from Eastern Europe to 15 years in prison after prosecutors said he directed multiple terror plots aimed at Jews and other minority groups.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old citizen of Georgia who used the nickname “Commander Butcher,” was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges connected to soliciting hate crimes and sharing instructions for creating deadly explosives and poisons, according to NBC News.

U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon handed down a 180-month prison sentence, stressing during the hearing that the punishment was tied to the defendant’s direct efforts to encourage violence and murder.

“The defendant is not sentenced because of his warped views,” Judge Amon noted during the proceedings. “He is being sentenced for his calls to action.”

Federal authorities identified Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the “Maniac Murder Cult,” an extremist organization operating out of Russia and Ukraine that spreads neo-Nazi ideology online. Prosecutors said the group used encrypted messaging services, including Telegram, to recruit and radicalize supporters internationally.

Investigators said Chkhikvishvili wrote a document called “Hater’s Handbook,” which outlined methods for carrying out mass killings and school shootings.

U.S. Attorney Nocella said the defendant deliberately focused on vulnerable communities in New York, including Jewish children.

“The defendant is a hate-mongering menace who intended to hurt and kill children in the Jewish community and in other minority communities in New York City,” Nocella stated. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message to hateful extremists, wherever you are, who seek to spread fear through unspeakable violence: we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

Court filings described several disturbing plots tied to the case. One alleged scheme involved having an associate dress as Santa Claus on New Year’s Eve and hand out poisoned candy to minorities in New York City. Prosecutors said the plan later evolved into a targeted conspiracy to poison children attending Jewish schools in Brooklyn.

Authorities said Chkhikvishvili went beyond online propaganda. In 2023, he allegedly communicated with an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was a potential recruit, urging the agent to commit murders and bomb attacks.

After being arrested in 2024, Chkhikvishvili was extradited to the United States the following year to stand trial.

Defense attorneys argued that years of bullying and personal difficulties contributed to his radicalization. Prosecutors rejected that explanation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Reich describing the case as one involving “sustained and deliberate solicitation of violence.”

Appearing in court in prison clothing, Chkhikvishvili expressed remorse over the suffering students faced and acknowledged that they should never have been subjected to such threats of violence.

{Matzav.com}