A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 16 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for a series of threatening communications, according to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero. Yaniv Gola, 51, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Kai N. Scott after pleading guilty to charges of interstate communication of threats that targeted individuals based on their religious beliefs.
Gola, who made use of a Voice Over Internet Protocol service to mask his phone number, was convicted of making telephone calls threatening to harm, sexually assault, and kill his victims. "Yaniv Gola made hundreds of these calls and texts, terrorizing his victims with incredibly vile, violent threats," as U.S. Department of Justice reports, said Romero. The perpetrator learned where his victims lived and worked, choosing to exploit these details to heighten further the fear instilled by his threats.
Their explicit antisemitic and Islamophobic content underscored the hateful and violent nature of the calls. On one occasion, Gola reportedly said through the U.S. Department of Justice, "You f***ing Jew, now I know where you are. I’m going to kill all you Jews … You all should be shoved back into ovens. I’m going down to [victim’s business location] to kill you." Another call had him declare to a victim, "I want to put a bullet in your head … You f***ing Muslims." The case was concluded, with Gola admitting to his crimes on February 14 after being charged earlier in the year.
The collaborative efforts of the FBI, along with multiple local police departments, including the Philadelphia Police Department, Media Borough Police Department, Cinnaminson Township Police Department, Newtown Township Police Department, and the Haddonfield Police Department, were instrumental in apprehending Gola. "The details of this case serve as an alarming reminder of threats members of our community face because of their beliefs," according to the U.S. Department of Justice, said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. Jacobs further stressed that the FBI and its partners are committed tirelessly to ensuring the safety and security of communities and will continue to pursue those who make violent threats diligently.
This case represents a stark example of the intersecting avenues of hate crimes and technology. While digital tools can offer anonymity and a means to mask one’s identity, they also provide law enforcement with additional routes to investigate and link perpetrators to their offenses. The efforts of federal and local agencies combined to bring Gola’s campaign of hate to an end, thereby reaffirming their pledge to protect communities from such targeted acts of intimidation and violence.
