Metro

Ex-NYC children service’s worker pleads guilty in synagogue-attack case

A former employee of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services pleaded guilty to a federal charge for selling a gun to two men who allegedly plotted attacks on New York synagogues.

Jamil Hakime, 58, copped to one count of conspiracy to transport a firearm across state lines for driving alleged anti-Semites Christopher Brown and Matthew Mahrer to Pennsylvania to buy a gun, according to federal court records. 

“This case involves, among other things, the trafficking of firearms by the defendant to two other individuals … who appear to have been engaged in coordinated efforts to threaten and attack one or more unidentified Jewish institutions in Manhattan,” prosecutors wrote in a letter in the case in January. 

Hakime, a former youth development specialist at ACS, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday and will face sentencing on July 18, records show.

Brown and Mahrer were both hit with state charges in November for allegedly plotting to attack synagogues in Manhattan. 

Jamil Hakime, 58, copped to one count of conspiracy to transport a firearm across state lines. Jamil Hakime / Facebook
Hakime pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday and will face sentencing on July 18. Jamil Hakime / Facebook

After the two were arrested, Brown allegedly told cops he operated a white supremacist Twitter group and that he had a “sick personality.”

“It took me three years to finally buy the gun. Matt is one of my followers. I have Nazi paraphernalia in my house. I think it’s really cool,” Brown told cops, according to the criminal complaint against him. 

“The two defendants possessed a firearm, a high-capacity magazine, ammunition, an [8-inch] long military-style knife, a swastika arm patch, a ski mask and a bulletproof vest, along with other things,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement after their arrests. 

Christopher Brown allegedly bought a gun from Jamil Hakime to carry out an attack on Manhattan synogogues. Alec Tabak
Matthew Mahrer was arrested in November alongside Christopher Brown. William Miller

“Hateful anti-Semitic targeting of synagogues is deplorable,” Bragg said. “The Manhattan DA’s office will now pursue accountability and justice in this case with the full resources of our counter-terrorism program and recently enhanced and expanded hate crimes unit.”

Hakime has been locked up since his arrest in the case on Dec. 2, 2022. A spokesperson for ACS and Hakime’s attorney did not return requests for comment Wednesday.