A 76-year-old Montauk man was sentenced on Friday afternoon to five days in county jail, followed by three years of probation, for spray-painting swastikas and antisemitic phrases around the hamlet in late 2023.
Michael Nicholoulias was arrested by East Hampton Town police detectives during a traffic stop in his white P.T. Cruiser after midnight on Dec. 5, 2023, after he was observed spray-painting swastikas on a public bench and the back of an Adopt-A-Road sign in the parking lot of Ditch Plain Beach. A black Rustoleum spray-paint can was sitting on the passenger seat, and during an interview back at police headquarters in Wainscott he “delineated” his actions earlier that night, “as well as other associated criminal actions,” according to the incident report.
The arrest followed a weekslong investigation, conducted jointly by the town and county police, into two earlier incidents. On the morning of Oct. 30, 2023, black swastikas were discovered to have been spray-painted overnight on the Ditch Plain comfort station, two food trucks parked in the lot, and on multiple surfaces around the Naturally Good health food market downtown, including on four outdoor tables, and on a back fence, next to the words “Jeden Die.”
The discovery occurred during an increase in antisemitic incidents in the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Hundreds had gathered in downtown Montauk on the afternoon of Oct. 30, 2023, in a show of support for the Jewish community and to clean up the graffiti.
The perpetrator remained at large, and on the morning of Nov. 11, 2023, town police discovered additional swastikas, and the words “Jews burn,” painted on the building and fence of Bounce Beach Montauk. The business was closed for the season at the time, and a group of local schoolchildren and parents painted a colorful mural over the black spray paint later that day.
Mr. Nicholoulias was arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court on the morning of Dec. 5, 2023, and the Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney held a press conference in Riverhead that afternoon, announcing the arrest and stating that the defendant’s motive “appeared to be self-contained” and that he had acted alone. He said that his office would seek an indictment in Suffolk County Criminal Court. Mr. Nicholoulias was arraigned before Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski on Aug. 29 of this year, charged with two felonies connected to the incidents at Naturally Good and Bounce Beach.
The defendant’s appointed attorney, Matthew James Hereth of the Legal Aid Society, had entered initial pleas of not guilty to the charges of first-degree aggravated harassment and fourth-degree criminal mischief, the latter of which was raised to the felony level because it was charged as a hate crime. The parties worked out a deal outside of court for a sentence of five days in prison, three years of probation, and the a payment in $5,771.41 in restitution in exchange for guilty pleas to both charges, with the sentence set to begin immediately after sentencing.
Mr. Nicholoulias entered the courtroom with his attorney around 12:20 p.m. on Friday, dressed in a gray zip-up hooded sweatshirt, olive green pants, and black sneakers, using a cane for support. Mr. Hereth explained that Mr. Nicholoulias has had multiple strokes and has difficulty speaking, so in lieu of a formal allocution his client had written out a statement as part of the pre-sentencing report that had been submitted to the court.
“Mr. Nicholoulias understands the error of his ways — he’s definitely remorseful,” Mr. Hereth said, adding that the charged offenses were “very out of character” for him and that he understood the fear that he had caused in the community.
Justice Pilewski stated that he had read the referenced statement and agreed that Mr. Nicholoulias demonstrated remorse before imposing the agreed-upon sentence. The judge also granted protective orders barring Mr. Nicholoulias from contact with Lauren Martin, an owner of Naturally Good, and Cole Bernard, an owner of Bounce Beach.
“Good luck to you, sir,” the justice said, ending the proceeding, as Mr. Nicholoulias was taken into custody by court officers. He was led out of the courtroom to begin the five-day sentence, which was set to conclude earlier this week. The jail’s records department, contacted by phone on Monday, was not able to confirm a date of release.
Rabbi Josh Franklin of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, who was among the volunteers who helped clean the graffiti off the Naturally Good, had met with Mr. Nicholoulias in June as part of a restorative justice process, and wrote in a statement yesterday morning that he had made a “personal choice” to forgive him, though he had difficulty assessing the sincerity of Mr. Nicholoulias’s remorse due to his “significant health and cognitive limitations.”
“My forgiveness was not an endorsement of what he did, nor does it diminish the real pain and fear his actions caused. It was an act of releasing resentment so I would not remain emotionally tethered to his hatred,” he wrote. “The crime he committed had a profound impact not only on Jewish residents, but on the entire Hamptons community. A swastika is not a symbol of protest — it is a symbol of genocide. Its appearance on a local storefront reopened deep wounds and spread fear among families who have long felt the weight of antisemitism.”
Rabbi Franklin encouraged others in the community to consider the path of forgiveness as well, “not for [Mr. Nicholoulias’s] sake, but for their own,” and went on to thank the Suffolk County district attorney’s office for its “unwavering commitment to this case and for standing consistently with the Jewish community,” and the East Hampton Town police and other law enforcement agencies that had worked together to bring Mr. Nicholoulias to justice, “especially during a time of rising antisemitism nationwide.”
“As we move forward, my hope is that we choose healing over bitterness, resilience over fear, and clarity over confusion,” Rabbi Franklin wrote. “Justice has now taken its course. It is up to us to continue building a community rooted in strength, vigilance, and compassion.”
