Romanian national sentenced for nationwide swatting spree

Thomasz Szabo, a 27-year-old Romanian man, received a four-year federal prison sentence on Wednesday for orchestrating an online harassment operation designed to send armed police to the homes of prespecified targets. Szabo’s so-called swatting ring targeted over 75 public officials, journalists, and religious institutions in the United States, according to the Department of Justice.

What is swatting? Swatting is a term describing a criminal hoax in which a false report is made in order to draw members of law enforcement agencies—often including a SWAT team—to a predetermined location. Beginning in 2018, Szabo organized online chat servers in Romania centered around provocative online pranking. Szabo, aka “Plank,” “Jonah,” and “Cypher,” began official swatting operations in 2020. As group leader, Szabo encouraged and executed false reports to law enforcement agencies within the United States. Szabo’s operations continued through early 2024 and orchestrated a multitude of swatting attacks including a mass shooting report to New York City synagogues and a bomb threat at the U.S. Capitol.

2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., both reported being targets of swatting operations. Secret Service agents questioned Szabo after Romanian authorities searched his home in January 2024, and by November 2024, he was extradited to the United States. Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of threats involving explosives in June 2025. Following his time in federal prison, Szabo is expected to undergo three years of supervised release.