Man Faces 15 Years in Prison After Cyberstalking and Terrorizing Jewish Delis and Synagogues in Philadelphia and Delaware Valley

The sanctuary of the Flushing Free Synagogue, which is National Register of Historic Places and was not a party to the case involving synagogues and Jewish delis in Philadelphia.
Donavon Parish, a 29-year-old Mississippi man, faces at least 15 years in prison as he pleaded guilty in federal court in Philadelphia on Tuesday to cyberstalking and making threatening phone calls to a number of synagogues and delis, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced.
He also pleaded guilty to five counts of abuse and harassment using a telecommunications device, and he admitted to a special finding that he had targeted his victims specifically based on their actual and perceived religion.
In a two-month period, Parish targeted three synagogues and three delicatessens during a two-month period in 2022.
One deli in Montgomery County received at least 15 such telephone calls from Parish.
The calls to the deli were reported to the local constabulary and when a police officer called Parish’s number back, he answered, prosecutors said. The officer asked if Parish had called the deli, to which Parish said yes, and then declared that “all Jews need to die” and “Heil Hitler.” When the officer asked Parish for his name, the cyberstalker disconnected the call.
After Parish called and made threatening statements to a synagogue that operates a pre-kindergarten as well as several religious schools, the schools were placed on high alert, prosecutors said, and teachers took additional precautions including locking the doors of their classrooms.
The federal defender representing Parish, James McHugh, told reporters that his client had “accepted responsibility for his conduct and pled guilty today.”
“As he told the Judge in court he is ashamed by his actions in the spring of 2022, McHugh added. “Each and every day since his arrest he has taken steps to ensure that this will never happen again.”
In these calls, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement, “the defendant spoke to individuals answering the telephone calls on behalf of their respective institutions, at which time he repeatedly referenced the genocide of approximately six million Jewish people during the Holocaust, stating, among other things, ‘Heil Hitler,’ ‘all Jews must die,’ ‘we will put you in work camps,’ ‘gas the Jews,’ and ‘Hitler should have finished the job.’
In total, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $1.5 million fine, and a $600 special assessment.
“Cyberstalking is already a serious violation and targeting victims based on their religion is a hate crime, which makes it that much more abhorrent,” said U.S. Attorney Romero.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)