An 18-year-old California man admitted on Wednesday that he had made nearly 400 false reports of bomb threats and mass shootings that targeted schools, religious institutions and government officials across the country over a 16-month period, federal prosecutors announced.
The man, Alan W. Filion of Lancaster, Calif., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., to four counts of interstate transmission of threats to injure after the authorities linked him to more than 375 false reports of threats or acts of terror — often referred to as swatting calls. Mr. Filion, who earlier this year was arrested in California and extradited to Florida, will face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, according to court records. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.
Hoax threats and swatting calls cause “profound fear and chaos,” Lisa Monaco, the deputy U.S. attorney general, said in a statement. The false reports also waste law enforcement resources, endanger the public and prevent emergency personnel from responding to real emergency situations, Paul Abbate, the deputy director of the F.B.I., added…