NEW YORK โ An Arizona man was sentenced to 49 months in federal prison on Thursday for sending a sustained campaign of antisemitic death threats and for interstate stalking of Jewish victims in New York City.
Donovan Hall, 35, of Mesa, Arizona, pleaded guilty to charges of making interstate threats and interstate stalking. U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden imposed the 49-month sentence on October 30, 2025. Hall was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Prosecutors say the threats spanned roughly three months and amounted to about 1,000 contacts with victims located in New York. In many communications, Hall used violent and antisemitic language and threatened to torture, mutilate, rape, and kill victims and their families. The campaign included dozens of phone calls, hundreds of texts and messages, and images of weapons.
Federal authorities say Hall targeted, among others, the owner and staff of a Manhattan hotel after the ownerโs son, an Israel Defense Forces soldier, posted videos from Gaza. Prosecutors say Hall made dozens of calls to the hotel owner and staff between August and November 2024, and in October 2024, he began sending photographs of firearms and a machete along with messages threatening violence. Law enforcement later recovered the firearms shown in the messages during a search of Hallโs residence. One weapon was loaded.
โDonovan Hall targeted Jewish victims with a sustained campaign of intimidation, terror, and harassment,โ U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a Justice Department statement. He added that the roughly 1,000 threats were โalarming and brazenโ and that the office would aggressively pursue perpetrators of hate crimes. The FBI Special Agent in Charge in Newark also commented that the sentence โspeaks volumes about the severity of his crimesโ and underscored the agencyโs commitment to pursuing threats conveyed over phones and the internet.
Victims described the toll of the harassment. Randy Settenbrino, whose family runs the Historic Blue Moon Hotel and whose son served in the IDF, told reporters the campaign inflicted real damage on staff and the business, including intimidation and abusive conduct toward employees. Settenbrino said he felt the sentence was appropriate.
The case demonstrates how online and telephonic harassment can cross state lines and meet federal thresholds for prosecution. Prosecutors said the investigation involved coordinated work by the U.S. Attorneyโs Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBIโs Newark and Phoenix field offices, the New York Police Department, the Mesa Police Department, and other local agencies.
Hall apologized in court and said he did not โmean to be that person anymore,โ according to reporting. His sentencing fell close to the top of the advisory sentencing range. Federal authorities noted that Hall had been remanded for about 10 months before sentencing.
Legal experts say the sentence may serve as a deterrent and a clear signal that threats rooted in antisemitism will be pursued vigorously by federal prosecutors. For Jewish and pro-Israel communities, the verdict and sentence underline the real risks faced by civilians when political and military events spark targeted harassment. Community leaders have urged continued law enforcement attention to threats that single out Jews because of identity or political association.
The case remains part of a larger law enforcement effort to address threats and hate crimes that cross jurisdictions and involve digital and telephonic communications. Prosecutors emphasized that the sentence reflects both the severity and persistence of Hallโs conduct.
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This article is based on verified information from the U.S. Department of Justice Southern District of New York press release, reporting by The Times of Israel, and related federal news coverage.