A California teenager has confessed to orchestrating hundreds of swatting calls over a two-year span, instigating 'fear and chaos' as law enforcement reacted to his fabricated reports of bomb threats and mass shootings at schools, residences, and places of worship, according to federal prosecutors.
Alan Filion, 18, from Lancaster, California, entered a guilty plea to four counts of interstate transmission of threats as part of a plea agreement sanctioned by the US District Court in Orlando, Florida. He is currently detained in a Florida jail awaiting his sentencing.
Filion's attorney, Dan Eckhart of Orlando, opted not to comment on the plea agreement. Filion was charged with over 375 hoax calls made between August 2022 and January 2024, some of which were part of a 'swatting-for-a-fee service' he promoted online using fake Internet aliases, according to the Department of Justice.
For a fee of approximately $75, Filion guaranteed to make calls that would result in police handcuffing victims and searching their homes for 'dead bodies'. Among the charges, Filion admitted to making a call in May 2023 to police in Sanford, Florida, aimed at a mosque. During the call, he claimed to be planning a mass shooting in the name of Satan, armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and pipe bombs, with gunfire audio playing in the background.
The DOJ and FBI traced Filion, arrested him at his California home earlier this year, and extradited him to Florida. Despite initiating his first swatting call at 16, Filion was charged as an adult. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, with each count carrying a five-year sentence and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for February.
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