A Lancaster teenager accused of making hundreds of swatting calls and offering paid swatting services has pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal.
Alan W. Filion, 18, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Florida to four counts of interstate menacing to injure another person. He could face up to five years in prison on each charge.
According to prosecutors, Filion made more than 375 swatting and threatening phone calls between August 2022 and January 2024. The calls included bomb and shooting threats against religious institutions, high schools, universities, government officials, and individuals across the United States.
Prosecutors said Filion, who was 16 years old at the time of most of the calls, tried to mobilize large-scale law enforcement and an emergency response to the scene. In some swatting incidents, officers entered the scene with weapons drawn and detained people, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors said Figlioni also posted advertisements for paid intelligence services on social media.
“Alan Filion not only intended to cause as much harm as possible, but also sought to profit from these criminal activities by offering paid swatting services,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. said. “Swatting poses serious risks to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources, and creates fear in communities. We will actively investigate the matter and seek accountability.”
He was arrested in California on Jan. 18 on Florida charges stemming from threats he made against religious institutions in May 2023, authorities said. According to the Department of Justice, Fillion claimed to have an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol, a pipe bomb and a Molotov cocktail.
He said he was going to “go on a shooting spree” and “kill everyone in sight” right away, court documents said.
Filion pleaded guilty Wednesday to making that threat and three other threatening calls, including one aimed at a high school in Washington state. Historically Black College in Florida. A person calls a local police dispatch number in Texas, pretends to be a federal law enforcement officer, provides the officer’s residential address to the dispatcher, claims to have killed his mother, and threatens to kill the responding officer. did. According to the Department of Justice, police officers.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “This indictment and today’s guilty plea demonstrate the judicial commitment to hold accountable all individuals who endanger our communities through swatting and false threats. This reaffirms the ministry’s determination.” “For more than a year, Alan Fillion targeted religious institutions, schools, government officials, and other innocent victims, making hundreds of false threats of impending mass shootings, bombings, and other violent crimes. He has caused deep fear and confusion and will now face the consequences of his actions.”
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