A Romanian national was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday after the Justice Department said he made bomb threats and orchestrated "swatting" incidents that targeted dozens of U.S. officials, lawmakers and others.
Thomasz Szabo, 27, was extradited from Romania in November 2024 and pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and to making threats involving explosives, the Justice Department said.
“Members of Congress, cabinet officials, the heads of federal law enforcement agencies, churches, journalists -- Thomasz Szabo and his followers targeted them all with swatting calls and fake bomb threats designed to send armed police to their doors,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.
What Is Swatting?
"Swatting" refers to false emergency calls that report violent crimes—such as active shooters, kidnappings or bomb threats—so that heavily armed SWAT teams (Special Weapons and Tactics) are dispatched to an address. These hoaxes endanger lives, divert critical police resources and can cause severe psychological trauma for victims.
Case Details
According to court documents, Szabo organized and moderated online chat groups formed in 2020 where conspirators planned and coordinated the hoax calls. The malicious reports included bogus bomb threats and fabricated claims of homicides, suicides, kidnappings and mass shootings.
Szabo used several online aliases, including "Jonah," "Plank," "Rambler," and "War Lord." Officials said some of the false reports included a December 2020 threat to carry out a mass shooting at synagogues in New York City and a January 2021 threat to detonate a bomb at the U.S. Capitol and kill then President-elect Donald Trump.
The sentence underscores the federal government's focus on prosecuting those who use online networks to plan and execute dangerous hoaxes that put people and first responders at risk.
