A man who waged a months-long campaign of antisemitic harassment and violent threats against Jewish New Yorkers — including the owners of a well-known Lower Manhattan hotel — has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.

Donovan Hall, an Arizona resident, received a 49-month prison sentence for a “calculated campaign of intimidation and terror” that federal prosecutors say targeted multiple Jewish victims across state lines. Over the course of three months, Hall issued more than 1,000 violent threats, including explicit messages threatening to torture, mutilate, rape, and murder his victims and their families.

The harassment escalated in August 2024, when Hall began placing dozens of threatening phone calls to the Jewish owner of the Blue Moon Hotel on the Lower East Side, along with members of the owner’s family and hotel employees. During these calls, Hall repeatedly threatened to kill them.

In October 2024, he sent the hotel owner text messages showing photographs of two firearms and a machete, coupled with threats to use those weapons to harm the family. When FBI agents raided Hall’s Arizona residence on November 22, 2024, they recovered the weapons pictured in those texts — including one loaded firearm — along with other unregistered weapons.

“The defendant’s conduct was calculated, hateful, and relentless,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, calling the case “a stark reminder that antisemitic terror will be met with the full force of federal law.”

Stefanie Roddy, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark Field Office, said the near-maximum sentence reflected the gravity of the crimes.

“Hall’s sentencing speaks volumes about the severity of his conduct and the seriousness with which the law takes it,” Roddy said. “For anyone who believes they can hide behind computers, phones, or anonymous accounts to threaten Jews or any community — the FBI will find you. We will not relent in seeking justice for the victims of these egregious crimes.”

Prosecutors said Hall used “consistent violent and antisemitic language,” directing most of his threats toward Jews. Though Hall had already been detained for 10 months before his plea, his guilty admission still resulted in one of the stiffest sentences permissible under federal guidelines.

The Blue Moon Hotel, located on Orchard Street, is a historic Lower East Side landmark and home to the only kosher-certified, hotel-based restaurant and café in Manhattan. Its owner, Randy Settenbrino, said last year that the campaign of harassment deeply impacted his family and staff.

“This hotel is filled with a love of New York City and a love of the Jewish life that flourished here,” Settenbrino told The Media Line during the height of the threats.

He said he believed the harassment was sparked by the public revelation that his eldest son, Bram Settenbrino, had served in the IDF.

After Bram’s photo in uniform was posted online, he was doxed on social media alongside inflammatory captions such as, “This hotel belongs to a Jewish terror family and needs to be closed in one way or another. No mercy.” Flyers and online posts soon circulated labeling him a “war criminal,” urging boycotts of the hotel, and calling to “shut it down.”

The online hate campaign was accompanied by vandalism and a flood of one-star reviews on travel sites. Settenbrino said the hotel’s business dropped by about 30 percent in the aftermath.

In addition to Hall’s direct threats, the Instagram account Stop Arab Hate amplified the harassment by posting videos of Bram in his IDF uniform and sharing the family’s contact information, further fueling the wave of abuse and intimidation.

Federal officials have not indicated whether additional individuals linked to the online campaign may face charges.

For now, prosecutors said, Hall’s sentencing should serve as a warning that “antisemitic violence, whether physical or digital, will not go unanswered.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)