AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – According to an announcement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, an Amarillo man was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison for threatening to execute three prominent Jewish rabbis.

As noted in previous reports, Christopher Stephen Brown was charged, and later indicted, in December 2021 with “interstate threatening communications.” In September 2022, Brown plead guilty to that charge and admitted making a series of threatening phone calls and online submissions to the Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters, which is a Jewish organization that provides spiritual guidance and assistance to Jewish people.

According to plea papers, in those voicemails, calls, and messages, Brown used the pseudonym “Madrikh Obidiah” and threatened to “execute” a number of rabbinical leaders, stating among other threats that he was going to “blow (the individuals’) heads off.”

Both US Attorney Leigha Simonton and FBI Dallas Acting Special Agent in Charge James J. Dwyer released statements in the wake of the sentencing.

“Mr. Brown expressed vile anti-Semitism and threatened to commit despicable, violent acts against specific Jewish authorities,” said Simonton, “We will never stop protecting the Jewish community and other religious groups from such disturbing, hateful conduct.  We hope the sentence handed down today serves as reassurance of that to the victims, their loved ones, and the greater Jewish community”

“Making threatening statements intended to instill fear and cause potential physical harm is a serious criminal action with consequences. Our hope is that today’s sentence brings some relief to the affected private citizens, law enforcement and members of the Jewish community at large,” said Dwyer, “This behavior will not be tolerated, and we will continue working with our law enforcement partners to pursue individuals who espouse violent, antisemitic beliefs and pose a threat to public safety, holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

As noted in previous reports on MyHighPlains.com, Rebekah Jones was federally charged with assaulting a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon during the day in which Brown was arrested, and was expected to face trial in November 2022.