A federal court in Brooklyn has sentenced Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22 year old Georgian national known as 'Commander Butcher,' to 15 years in prison for orchestrating terror plots targeting Jewish children and other minorities in New York City. Prosecutors said he led a violent neo-Nazi group called the Maniac Murder Cult and used online platforms to spread extremist ideology and encourage attacks.

Chkhikvishvili pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes and distributing instructions for explosives and poisons. Judge Carol Bagley Amon said the sentence was based on his direct calls for violence rather than his beliefs alone. Authorities said he authored a manifesto that served as a guide for mass casualty attacks and school shootings.

Among the most alarming plots was a plan to have an operative dress as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to minority children on New Year's Eve, later shifting to a specific scheme to poison children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn. He also coordinated with an undercover agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2023, urging murders and bombings. After his 2024 arrest, he was extradited to the United States in 2025 to face prosecution.