California teen 'serial swatter' pleads guilty to making interstate threats

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A California teenager accused of being a "serial swatter" faces up to 20 years in prison for making interstate threats after pleading guilty in federal court on Wednesday.

Alan Filion, 18, of Lancaster, Calif., pleaded guilty to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another, the Department of Justice announced.

Prosecutors said Filion also tried to profit by charging fees to make the swatting calls.

"For well over a year, Alan Filion targeted religious institutions, schools, government officials and other innocent victims with hundreds of false threats of imminent mass shootings, bombings and other violent crimes," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.

"He caused profound fear and chaos and now will face the consequences of his actions," Monaco added.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and Filion will be sentenced during a hearing that is yet to be scheduled in the U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Orlando.

In a plea agreement Filion said he placed more than 375 swatting and threatening calls from about August 2022 to January that targeted locations, government officials and individuals throughout the nation.

During the swatting calls he claimed he had planted bombs and threatened to detonate bombs or commit mass shootings, according to the DOJ.

Filion "not only intended to cause as much harm as possible, but he also attempted to profit from these criminal activities by offering swatting-for-a-fee services," FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said.

"Swatting poses severe dangers to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources, and creates fear in communities," Abbate said.

The primary purpose of the calls was to cause "large-scale deployment of police and emergency services to the targeted locations," according to the DOJ.

Filion told investigators he initially starting placing swatting calls as a prank but decided to try to profit from it by charging a fee and placed posts on social media channels offering his swatting services.

Law enforcement arrested Filion on Jan. 18 in California on state charges filed against him in Florida.

The Florida charges arose from a May 2023 threat he made against a religious institution in Sanford, Fla.

In that threat, Filion said he had an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails and would use them to "kill everyone," the DOJ said.

Filion admitted to placing that swatting call and hundreds of others while pleading guilty to federal charges brought under the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act.

The FBI and U.S. Secret Service investigated the case with the help of local law enforcement in Florida, Washington state and California.

Filion was arrested in January and extradited to Florida to face charges in the U.S. District Court for Middle Florida.