United States: A teenager from California has pleaded guilty of making hundreds of swatting calls, fake emergency calls meant to incite ‘fear and chaos’ through the police who were called in to respond to hoax bomb threats and mass shootings at schools, homes, and places of worship in a period of two years, according to federal prosecutors.
Guilty Plea to Four Counts of Interstate Threats
Lancaster, California resident Alan Filion, 18, has entered a guilty plea before the U.S District Court in Orlando, Florida, to four counts of interstate transmission of threats. He is today in the Florida jail waiting for the court to sentence him, as reported by Reuters.
Filion’s attorney, Dan Eckhart of Orlando, could not be reached for comment on the plea deal.
Sought by the media after the incident, Filion was alleged to have made hoax calls of more than 375 in the period August 2022–January 2024, said the Department of Justice on Wednesday, some of which he made in what he boasted was a ‘swatting-for-a-fee service’ that he conducted using fake internet identities.
For roughly $75, Filion doubled for calls that would send police to haul victims out of the house in handcuffs ‘as they look for dead bodies,’ the statement said.
Specific Incident at Florida Mosque Detailed in Court
Of the charges, Filion admitted to one call regarding a mosque in Sanford, Florida, in the month of May 2023, according to court documents and other sources. He also informed the person on the call that he would conduct a mass shooting in Satan’s name and had an AR-15 assault-style rifle and pipe bombs. Raw recordings of the calls include gunshots in the background during the call.
The DOJ and FBI went after Filion, located him at his California residence earlier this year, and proceeded to deport him to Florida.
Potential 20-Year Sentence
Filion first called in a swatting when he was 16; however, he was prosecuted as an adult.
He could spend the next twenty years in prison and is now liable for a one million dollar penalty after admitting to making the calls, according to the prosecutors. Each count draws a five-year term and a fine of $250,000, as reported by Reuters.
In February, he is expected to be sentenced.