Man Who Hatched Plot to Poison Jewish Children with Candy Given Out by Santa Pleads Guilty By Liam Quinn

A Neo-Nazi nicknamed “Commander Butcher” who recruited others to hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York City pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national, was a leader in the Maniac Murder Cult, an extremist group, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said.

According to prosecutors, Chkhikvishvili “recruited people to commit violent acts in furtherance of Maniac Murder Cult’s ideologies, including planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York City.”

Chkhikvishvili sent step-by-step instructions to an undercover agent, directing him to dress in a Santa outfit and hand out candy laced with ricin to “many racial minorities and traitors,” prosecutors said.

In June 2022, prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn. That July, he encouraged others using the encrypted messaging app Telegram to commit hate crimes on behalf of the Maniac Murder Cult.

Chkhikvishvili had begun distributing a manifesto in 2021 called the “Hater’s Handbook” to cult members and others.

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Prosecutors said that the 17-year-old who killed one person and injured another before dying by suicide in January at Antioch High School in Nashville specifically mentioned Chkhikvishvili in his manifesto.

“Chkhikvishvili’s monstrous plots and propaganda calling for racially motivated violence against civilians, including children, posed a grave threat to public safety,” Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg said in a statement. “Unfortunately, his efforts on behalf of the aptly named Maniac Murder Cult in fact caused mayhem and death. We condemn his despicable ideology and will use every tool at our disposal to bring such predators to justice.”

Chkhikvishvili was indicted in July 2024 and extradited from Moldova to the United States in May 2025.

He pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes and sending instructions to make bombs and ricin.

“Michail Chkhikvishvili plotted extensive terrorist attacks targeting Jewish New Yorkers, including horrific plans to poison children,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement. “This wasn’t just violent behavior — it was extreme antisemitism rooted in Neo-Nazi ideology that put communities here and around the world at risk.”