NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of an Eastern European neo[fascist] group has pleaded guilty in New York to trying to recruit others to commit violent attacks against Jews and racial minorities, including one plot that would have involved dressing as Santa Claus to hand out poisoned candy to children.

Federal prosecutors said [that] they would seek a sentence of up to 18 years for Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from the Republic of Georgia who goes by the nickname “Commander Butcher.” He pleaded guilty Monday before a federal judge in Brooklyn to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about making bombs and ricin.

Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to an ideology that promotes violence intended to trigger a racial and religious war.

They said [that] the group’s violent solicitations — promoted through Telegram channels and outlined a manifesto called the “Hater’s Handbook” — appear to have inspired multiple real-life killings, including a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this year that left a 16-year-old student dead.

Chkhikvishvili was arrested in July 2024 in Moldova. He was extradited to the United States in May.