Teen ‘serial swatter’ behind hundreds of hoax threats pleads guilty

A prolific teenage “serial swatter” from California, has pleaded guilty to making hundreds of hoax calls about mass shootings and bomb threats to schools, religious institutions and government officials nationwide. The Department of Justice announced Wednesday, Nov. 13, Alan Filion, 18, pleaded guilty in a Florida federal courtroom to four counts of making interstate threats. He faces up to 20 years in prison, as each charge carries a five-year maximum sentence. 

Officials said from August 2022 to January of this year, Filion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls in various parts of the country including Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington, Texas and Florida. Filion was 16 at the time he placed the majority of the calls.

“Swatting” is when someone makes false accusations to send a large number of law enforcement rushing to a location where there is essentially nothing going on. Prosecutors said Filion formed a business out of “serial swatting,” advertising his services on social media for a fee.

On Jan. 18, Filion, then 17-years-old, was arrested in California on Florida state charges arising from a May 2023 threat he made to a religious institution in Sanford, Florida. In that threat, the DOJ said he claimed to have an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol, pipe bombs, and Molotov cocktails. He said that he was going to imminently “commit a mass shooting” and “kill everyone” he saw. Filion pleaded guilty to making that threat and three others.

“Alan 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,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “Swatting poses severe danger to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources, and creates fear in communities. The FBI will continue to work with partners to aggressively investigate and hold accountable anyone who engages in these activities.”

The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the case. Filion faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, 2025.