By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• A Romanian national was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for organizing a series of swatting calls and bomb threats targeting U.S. officials, prosecutors said.
• The scheme involved hoax emergency calls directed at members of Congress, federal judges, cabinet-level officials and law enforcement leaders.
• The defendant, identified as 27-year-old Thomasz Szabo, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiracy and threats charges.
• U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also ordered three years of supervised release to follow the prison term.
• Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024 after being questioned by U.S. Secret Service agents.
WASHINGTON, DC — A Romanian national has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for orchestrating a widespread swatting and bomb threat campaign against numerous U.S. government officials, including lawmakers, judges and law enforcement leaders, prosecutors said.
Thomasz Szabo, 27, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiracy and threats charges linked to hundreds of hoax emergency calls designed to provoke armed responses to fictitious threats at public officials’ homes and workplaces, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also ordered three years of supervised release following Szabo’s prison term, which accounts for roughly 20 months he had already served in custody.
Prosecutors said Szabo began his online activities in 2018 and expanded into swatting by 2020, recruiting others to join the scheme. The swatting calls and bomb threats diverted emergency resources and forced law enforcement responses to fabricated incidents across the country.
Szabo was extradited from Romania to the United States in November 2024 after being questioned by Secret Service agents as part of the investigation. His co-defendant’s case remains pending, and another associate previously received a four-year sentence for related swatting offenses.