Albuquerque man pleads guilty to threatening Jewish deli owner

(JTA)—An Albuquerque, New Mexico, man who made anti-Semitic threats against the Jewish owner of a local Jewish deli pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor hate crime.

John Ng, 58, pleaded guilty Aug. 6 and was sentenced to four years probation, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

The FBI arrested Ng in March 2014 for posting threatening, anti-Semitic notes on the door of the Nosh Jewish Delicatessen and Bakery on two occasions in 2014, on Jan. 22 and Feb. 8. He was charged with “interfering with the victim’s federally protected rights by threatening her and interfering with her business because of her religion and because she owned a Jewish restaurant.”

Among the notes were “FROM: The one you scarred for life scumbags; TO: The [anti-Semitic slur] who will die like rats.”

His trial was delayed almost a year, however, because of “competency” issues, according to the news release.

In his guilty plea, Ng admitted telling the FBI that he “had a bad history with Jews and targeted the Nosh Jewish Delicatessen because he believed it was a good location to ensure that his message would reach as many Jews as possible.”

Deli owner Alisa Turtletaub told KOB Eyewitness News 4 after Ng was arrested last year, “Part of me wants to meet him, part of me doesn’t want to meet him. I guess anybody in this situation you want to know why. Why do you have so much hate?”