Maryland Man Charged With Mailing Threatening Communications to Jewish Organizations, Including a Jewish Institution in Philadelphia

United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Clift A. Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with mailing threatening communications.

As alleged in the complaint, from at least March 1, 2024, through the present, the defendant is alleged to have sent numerous written threats through the mail to Jewish organizations and entities located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Many of these letters threaten the Jewish institutions and contain references to Gaza, Israel, or events in which Jewish people were killed or otherwise attacked. The letters then suggest that the recipients might become victims of similar acts of violence.

One of these communications came from a typewritten letter, postmarked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 7, 2025. The envelope was addressed to Victim Jewish Institution 1, to the attention of a person with the initials J.G., an employee of Victim Jewish Institution 1 at the time.

Read more: Department of Justice