Teen 'serial swatter' behind hundreds of hoax threats across U.S. pleads guilty

Source: NBC News

Nov. 13, 2024, 6:52 PM EST


In one of the most prolific “swatting” cases ever prosecuted, a teenage “serial swatter” pleaded guilty Wednesday to making hoax threats to schools, religious institutions and government officials about mass shootings and bombings across the country. Alan Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, pleaded guilty to four counts of making interstate threats, the Justice Department said.

Filion faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each charge, federal prosecutors said. From August 2022 to January, Filion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls, including calls in which he claimed to have put bombs in place, threatened to detonate bombs or carry out mass shootings, officials said.

He became a “serial swatter” — making false accusations to send law enforcement officers rushing to a location — for profit and entertainment, court documents said. Prosecutors said he turned swatting into a business by advertising his swatting services on social media for a fee.

Authorities said he was responsible for hundreds of swatting incidents throughout the country, including in Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington and Texas.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teen-serial-swatter-hundreds-hoax-threats-us-pleads-guilty-rcna180066