Romanian Man Sentenced for Running Swatting Ring

A Romanian man, Thomas Szabo, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for orchestrating an international swatting operation aimed at numerous U.S. lawmakers and government officials.

At 27 years old, Szabo received his 48-month sentence on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. He pleaded guilty on June 2, 2025, to conspiracy and intimidation charges involving explosives. Judge Amy Berman Jackson also mandated three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had originally sought a longer sentence of 57 months.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, emphasized, “This administration will not tolerate attacks on institutions or individuals who serve this country.” She further pointed out that Szabo had been extradited from Romania to face trial in the U.S., underscoring the consequences of his actions.

Pirro highlighted that Szabo’s network engaged in perpetrating fake bomb threats and phony emergency calls. Their operation involved targeting 75 civil servants, four religious organizations, and several journalists. The Justice Department noted that the victims comprised over 25 members of Congress and their families, as well as six former executive branch officials, 13 former or current federal law enforcement leaders, a federal judge, and 27 state-level officials or their relatives.

Szabo is believed to have worked alongside Serbian co-defendant Nemanja Radovanovic, whose case is still open. Another associate, Alan Fillion, 18, was sentenced to four years in February 2025 after pleading guilty to being involved in approximately 375 swatting incidents between August 2022 and January 2024. It was revealed that Szabo instructed Radovanovic to target individuals from both major political parties, stating, “we don’t take sides.”

Szabo started creating an online group focused on “trolling” in 2018, which escalated to swatting by late 2020. He was also reported to have made threats, including one against a New York City synagogue in December 2020, and another targeting the Capitol and then-President-elect Joe Biden in January 2021.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan commented, stating, “Swatting is not just a nuisance; it is extremely dangerous. This shows us that we track threats across the globe.”