Teen 'serial swatter' behind hundreds of hoax threats across U.S. pleads guilty
Teen 'serial swatter' behind hundreds of hoax threats across U.S. pleads guilty
Alan Filion, 18, became a “serial swatter” for profit and entertainment and made more than 375 swatting and threat calls, federal officials say.
Summary
Alan Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, pleaded guilty to four counts of making interstate threats in one of the most prolific “swatting” cases ever prosecuted.
Filion made over 375 swatting and threat calls from August 2022 to January 2023, targeting schools, religious institutions, government officials, and FBI agents.
Prosecutors say he turned swatting into a business, advertising his services on social media for profit.
His hoaxes, which included bomb and mass shooting threats, caused widespread fear and chaos. Filion faces up to 20 years in prison.
Wow, that article was basically a cut and paste of the DOJ release, neither of which said why he was only charged with four counts if he’s done it over 300 times. Thanks, NBC! 🙄
My guess is that he is only being charged with provable swats after he was 18, greatly reducing the counts.
Just speculating here, but if a few additional counts aren't likely to add significant time to his sentence, they might also be saving some for later in case they lose or the case gets thrown out for some reason.
I kind of just want to send him letters in prison, pages long of just, "hahahahah."
For good measure, throw in a couple of fake screenshots of users on 4chan and Reddit calling him a "script kiddie". That will get much deeper under his skin than spam will.
"He claimed in a Jan. 19, 2023, online post that his ‘first’ swatting was like ‘2 to 3 years ago’ and that ‘6-9 months ago [he] decided to turn it into a business,’" prosecutors said, noting Filion posted on social media advertising his services.
Tbh impressive