California teen pleads guilty in Florida to making hundreds of ‘swatting’ calls across the US

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a California teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday in a case involving the swatting of a Florida mosque, among other institutions and individuals. Swatting is the practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a news release that 18-year-old Alan W. Filion, of Lancaster, California, entered the plea to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another. He faces up to five years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.