GREENSBORO – A North Carolina man was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison, after pleading guilty to one count of communicating threats in interstate commerce, announced United States Attorney Sandra J. Hairston of the Middle District of North Carolina.

Jeffrey Scott Hobgood, 64, of Troy, was sentenced to an 18-month term of imprisonment by Judge William L. Osteen Jr., of the United States District Court for the MDNC, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release and 20 hours of community service weekly for 12 weeks. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to communicating threats in interstate commerce, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(c).

According to court records, on Oct. 11, 2023, Hobgood sent a threatening email to a Jewish organization located in Charlotte, addressing the recipients as “Israeli jews of David star,” and threatening to “take every one of you out,” writing that “you semite [sic] pieces of s- will be annihilated.” Two days later, Hobgood sent a second threatening email to the same organization, again making a reference to the religion of the recipients. In his plea agreement, Hobgood admitted that he selected the targets of his offense of conviction because of the actual and perceived religion of the victims.

“It is abhorrent to threaten someone with violence because of who they are or how they worship. The FBI worked tirelessly with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District Of North Carolina to ensure Jeffrey Hobgood could not offer excuses for his hate-filled messages and would instead, serve time in federal prison,” said Robert M. DeWitt, the FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s civil rights and public corruption squad, the Troy Police Department and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys JoAnna G. McFadden and Ashley R. Waid.