Maryland Man Sentenced To Prison For Swatting

BALTIMORE, MD — A Maryland man who created a false alarm in 2015 has been sentenced to two years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The sentence stems from a case of "swatting," or faking an emergency that would merit a SWAT team response. Prosecutors said the incident cost the Howard County Police Department approximately $10,000 and resulted in injuries to the victim that required multiple reconstructive surgeries.

Zachary Lee, 26, of Catonsville, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to provide false information as well as false information and hoax relating to a scheme to cause an emergency services response.

Lee admitted that between Feb. 17 and Feb. 18, 2015, he and another man plotted to create a fake hostile scenario, officials said. The other man, 19-year-old Robert Walker-McDaid of Coventry, England, has an extradition hearing scheduled for March 27 in the United Kingdom, prosecutors reported.

Lee admitted that he contacted McDaid over an internet messaging service and said: "I have someone I need sw@tted," according to the plea agreement.

Authorities said that McDaid called the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center's Terrorism hotline demanding $15,000 in cash be delivered to an address in Ellicott City where he pretended he had three hostages, a bag of explosives and a loaded gun on Feb. 18, 2015.

"The caller stated that he would start executing the hostages in 15 minutes if his demands were not met," according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney. "Shortly after police arrived at the address, Lee allegedly posted on his Facebook account, 'Love my team.'"

More than 40 officers responded to an unsuspecting victim's home, where they stayed for more than two and a half hours and found upon investigation the victim did not make the call, had no hostages and was not in possession of firearms or explosives, officials said.

A Howard County Police Department tactical team, unaware that the emergency was fabricated, shot the victim with rubber bullets in the chest and face, according to the U.S. Attorney.

"The victim suffered significant injuries to his face and chest, including bruised lungs, a fractured rib and numerous broken bones to the left side of his face," the district attorney said. "He was transported to the hospital, where he underwent approximately three facial reconstructive surgeries."

The prank that Lee admitted to orchestrating is known as "swatting" because it involves getting police to send SWAT teams to someone's home. While the number of incidents has risen in recent years — the FBI estimates there are 400 swatting incidents each year — one that occurred in late December 2017 in Wichita, Kansas, is believed to be the first to result in a fatal shooting.

For the incident in Maryland, United States District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Lee to serve two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

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