Georgian National Receives 15 Years for Soliciting New York Mass Casualty Attack

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national known as “Commander Butcher,” received a 15-year prison sentence today in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn for soliciting hate crimes and distributing instructions to manufacture bombs and ricin.

Chkhikvishvili led the Maniac Murder Cult, an international racially motivated violent extremist group also identified as Maniacs Murder Cult, Maniacs: Cult of Killing, MKY, MMC and MKU. He recruited members to commit violent acts aligned with the group’s ideology, including concrete planning and solicitation of a mass casualty attack in New York City.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York states that Chkhikvishvili was extradited from Moldova in May 2025, pleaded guilty in November 2025, and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon on May 13, 2026.

The sentence directly affects the operational capacity of Maniac Murder Cult. Chkhikvishvili served as a central figure who recruited participants across borders and supplied technical instructions for explosives and biological toxins. Removal of this leadership node for 15 years disrupts the group’s ability to coordinate attacks inside the United States and severs a key conduit for disseminating operational knowledge to adherents.

The conviction changes the prior state in which Chkhikvishvili operated freely from abroad. Prior to extradition he directed followers through online channels without immediate legal consequence in the United States. The new state imposes 15 years of incarceration followed by supervised release, effective immediately upon sentencing on May 13, 2026.

Federal authorities have already removed him from circulation through the May 2025 extradition and the November 2025 guilty plea.

Downstream, the 15-year term requires the Bureau of Prisons to house and monitor Chkhikvishvili for the full sentence. It triggers standard post-release supervision that will restrict his internet access and international travel upon completion. The prosecution also supplies evidence for potential follow-on actions against remaining Maniac Murder Cult members who received his instructions, as the guilty plea establishes the group’s violent objectives in federal record.

Law enforcement agencies monitoring racially motivated violent extremism will reference the case in threat assessments and targeting packages for similar online recruiters.

This sentencing concludes the first federal prosecution of a Maniac Murder Cult leader inside the United States. The group had previously appeared in domestic extremism bulletins but lacked a high-profile conviction tied to active solicitation of a New York mass casualty plot.

The Department of Justice identified the case as part of its effort to neutralize international actors who direct violence from overseas.