PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Dunbar, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of interstate threats, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Nicholas Huffine, age 20, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Huffine participated in a practice known as “swatting,” in which he, along with others, made hoax emergency telephone calls to the Winter Garden, Florida, Police Department, and falsely reported an ongoing, dangerous crime in order to elicit an armed police response (from a SWAT team, hence the term “swatting”) to a specific location, in order to harass someone whom he believed was there. The calls resulted in emergency personnel being deployed, as well as physical damage due to forced entry to one of the residences where Huffine directed the law enforcement officers.
TribLive reported: He made phone calls on Jan. 24, 2017, to police in Winter Garden, Fla., and reported that he was armed and holding his family hostage at a home there, according to court records. Huffine claimed to be a person in Florida with whom he had been involved in a disagreement while playing video games online, according to federal authorities.
“Swatting is terrifying to victims, as well as highly dangerous as law enforcement agents operate under the belief that they are responding to the scene of active and ongoing violent criminal activity,” said U.S. Attorney Brady.
Judge Ambrose scheduled sentencing for January 9, 2020. The law provides for a total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
