Be careful who you call.
Posted on 01/30/2024 9:54:48 AM PST by V_TWIN
A Washington state man accused of making more than 20 swatting calls across the U.S. and in Canada, leading to law enforcement responses to his false reports of bombings, shootings and other crimes, pleaded guilty.
Ashton Garcia, 21, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to two counts of extortion and two counts of threats and hoaxes regarding explosives, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in a news release. Garcia was initially charged with 10 felony counts.
Garcia placed the calls to agencies in Washington state, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado, as well as Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada.
According to federal prosecutors, Garcia used voice-over-internet technology to hide his identity during the calls he made in 2022 and 2023. He also called on others to listen as he broadcast the calls on the social media platform Discord.
In several incidents, Garcia collected personal information about his victims and threatened to send emergency responses to their homes if they did not send him money, credit card information or sexually explicit images.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Be careful who you call.
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