Neo-Nazi group leader sentenced in U.S. hate-crime case

May 15, 2026

Summary

A federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced Michail Chkhikvishvili to 15 years after he pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes.

Why this matters

The case shows how U.S. authorities are responding to transnational extremist networks that prosecutors said used online platforms to encourage violence. It also underscores the legal consequences for soliciting attacks on religious and racial groups in the United States.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from Georgia, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in November to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about making bombs and ricin.

Prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili, who used the nickname “Commander Butcher,” led the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group they said promoted neo-Nazi ideology and violence through Telegram channels and a document called the “Hater’s Handbook.”

In 2023, prosecutors said, Chkhikvishvili solicited an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation employee to carry out bombings and arsons targeting racial minorities, Jewish people, and others.

In 2024, prosecutors said, he directed the undercover employee “to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison” and sent manuals on making and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said Chkhikvishvili also tried to recruit a supposed associate to dress as Santa Claus and distribute poisoned candy to minority children.

Prosecutors said the group’s solicitations and the “Hater’s Handbook” appeared to have inspired multiple killings, including a 2024 school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that killed a 16-year-old student.

In a letter to the judge last month, Chkhikvishvili wrote: “I acknowledge that my actions have brought harm by spreading hatred and violence and I’m truly sorry for that.” He also wrote, “I’m very ashamed authoring Haters Handbook, hoping one day it will disappear, I wish I never wrote it.”

His lawyer, Zachary Taylor, had asked for a five-year sentence, citing Chkhikvishvili’s mental health struggles since his teenage years, his exposure to extremist content on social media, and what Taylor described in a letter to the judge as harsh conditions during Chkhikvishvili’s nearly yearlong confinement in Moldova after his 2024 arrest on an international warrant.

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Neo-Nazi group leader sentenced in U.S. hate-crime case

According to prosecutors, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn in 2022 and repeatedly encouraged others to commit hate crimes and other violence.

Full story +

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from Georgia, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in November to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about making bombs and ricin.

Prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili, who used the nickname “Commander Butcher,” led the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group they said promoted neo-Nazi ideology and violence through Telegram channels and a document called the “Hater’s Handbook.”

In 2023, prosecutors said, Chkhikvishvili solicited an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation employee to carry out bombings and arsons targeting racial minorities, Jewish people, and others.

In 2024, prosecutors said, he directed the undercover employee “to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison” and sent manuals on making and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said Chkhikvishvili also tried to recruit a supposed associate to dress as Santa Claus and distribute poisoned candy to minority children.

Prosecutors said the group’s solicitations and the “Hater’s Handbook” appeared to have inspired multiple killings, including a 2024 school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that killed a 16-year-old student.

In a letter to the judge last month, Chkhikvishvili wrote: “I acknowledge that my actions have brought harm by spreading hatred and violence and I’m truly sorry for that.” He also wrote, “I’m very ashamed authoring Haters Handbook, hoping one day it will disappear, I wish I never wrote it.”

His lawyer, Zachary Taylor, had asked for a five-year sentence, citing Chkhikvishvili’s mental health struggles since his teenage years, his exposure to extremist content on social media, and what Taylor described in a letter to the judge as harsh conditions during Chkhikvishvili’s nearly yearlong confinement in Moldova after his 2024 arrest on an international warrant.
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