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Patrick Dai, the 22-year-old New York man who pleaded guilty to making violent threats against Jewish students while attending Cornell University last fall, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to a Monday press release from the United States Department of Justice.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes issued Dai’s sentence during a hearing at the James M. Hanley Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse in Syracuse Monday. Dai’s sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release. He will also be required to pay a $100 special assessment for “posting threats to kill or injure another person using interstate communications,” the DOJ’s release states.

Dai was arrested in late October for threatening to kill Jewish students at Cornell in multiple messages posted to the online forum Greekrank. The former student made several antisemitic threats on the platform, including threatening to “shoot up” a dining hall that served Kosher meal options and graphically describing violent acts he said he wanted to commit against Jewish students.

Northern District of New York U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman said in Monday’s release that the court imposed federal hate crime sentencing guidelines against Dai. Following his guilty plea on April 10, Dai had faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison, an up to $250,000 fine, restitution to victims and a maximum of three years of supervised release.

“The defendant’s threats terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the community’s sense of safety,” Freedman said. “My office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute threats and acts of violence motivated by antisemitism and by hatred of any kind.”

Dai’s attorney, Federal Public Defender Lisa Peebles, claimed throughout the legal proceedings that Dai had multiple mental illnesses, including autism spectrum disorder, that prevented him from understanding his own actions. His lawyers and his family told USA Today that Dai also took prescribed medication for “severe depression and anxiety,” though it was reportedly ineffective.

During Monday’s court hearing, Peebles also claimed that Dai has a developmental delay and has the cognitive function of a child under 10 years of age, CNY Central reported. She also told CNY Central on Monday that Dai’s actions do not “reflect what he feels” about Jewish people. Previously, the defense said Dai told investigators that he posted his messages with the intention of “vilify(ing) Hamas” and expressing support for Israel.

Peebles told reporters that Dai’s defense team will likely appeal Monday’s decision.

Published on August 12, 2024 at 8:31 pm

Contact Julia: jmboehni@syr.edu