An 18-year-old Southern Californian pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to making “swatting” calls targeting churches, schools, government officials, and other victims, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Alan Filion, of Lancaster, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of making interstate threats to injure people, federal officials reported.

“This prosecution and today’s guilty plea reaffirm the Justice Department’s commitment to using all tools to hold accountable every individual who endangers our communities through swatting and hoax threats,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a statement Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors say Filion targeted victims with hundreds of false threats of imminent mass shootings, bombings, and other violent crimes for more than a year.

“He caused profound fear and chaos and will now face the consequences of his actions,” Monaco added.

Filion is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Paul Abbate said Filion intended to cause “as much harm as possible” when making the swatting calls.

Swatting is a term used by the FBI and other agencies to describe when a suspect calls 9-1-1 to report a fake emergency that results in a significant law enforcement response—usually with a SWAT team.

The swatting calls are dangerous to first responders and the victims, according to the FBI.

Filion was arrested on Jan. 18 in California on Florida state charges. He was 17 at the time, according to federal authorities.

Authorities targeted Filion after a threat made in May 2023 to a religious institution in Sanford, Florida. During the threat, he allegedly claimed to have an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol, pipe bombs, and Molotov cocktails. He also allegedly said that he was planning to commit a mass shooting and kill everyone he saw, according to the DOJ.

He pleaded guilty to this charge Wednesday.

Filion also pleaded guilty to making three other threatening calls, including a call to a high school in Washington state in October 2022, threatening to commit a mass shooting and claiming to have planted several bombs at the school.

He also pleaded guilty to making a call in May 2023 to a college in Florida, claiming to have placed bombs in the walls and ceilings of campus housing that would detonate in one hour.

The third call was made in July 2023 to a local police department in Texas. During the call, Filion allegedly identified himself as a senior federal law enforcement officer, gave the officer’s home address to the dispatcher, claimed to have killed his mother, and threatened to kill any responding police officers, according to the DOJ.

According to the plea agreement, Filion made the hundreds of swatting and threat calls between August 2022 and January 2024. He was 16 when the majority of the calls were made, according to the DOJ.

Federal authorities say Filion intended for his calls to cause “large-scale deployment of police and emergency service units to the targeted locations.”

During the calls, he allegedly gave law enforcement agencies fake names and other false information. In response to several of the calls, armed officers responded to the locations and, in some cases, entered homes with their weapons drawn while arresting the people inside, the DOJ reported.

In a social media post on Jan. 20, 2023, Filion allegedly claimed that when he swats someone, he “usually get[s] the cops to drag the victim and their families outside of the house, cuff them, and search the house for dead bodies.”

Court documents show Filion allegedly became a serial swatter for both profit and recreation.

On Jan. 19, 2023, he posted online that his first swatting was “2 to 3 years ago” and that “6-9 months ago [he] decided to turn it into a business,” according to the DOJ.

Filion reportedly posted on social media channels to advertise his services and listed fees for making the calls.

Filion’s federal charges were brought under the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JDA), because the defendant was 17 when he was arrested. He remained in custody since his January arrest. The act established national standards for the care and custody of juveniles in the justice system.