Wisconsin man sentenced to 44 months in federal prison for week-long swatting spree Thursday
LOS ANGELES – Kya Christian Nelson, 23, of Racine, Wisconsin was sentenced to 44 months in federal prison for a week-long nationwide 'swatting' spree that used Ring cameras to livestream the emergency responses at homes in West Covina and Oxnard.
Nelson previously pled guilty on Jan. 23 to one count of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information and he has been in federal custody since August of 2024 stated the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in a press release Thursday.
Between Nov. 7, 2020, and Nov. 13, 2020, Nelson and co-conspirators gained access to home security door cameras sold by Santa Monica-based Ring LLC detailed the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Nelson and co-conspirators acquired username and password information from Yahoo! email accounts across the country and then determined if those email accounts also had a Ring account linked to the email that could control the doorbell camera device shared the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nelson and co-conspirators then submitted false emergency reports or telephone calls to local law enforcement where the victims lived in order to elicit an emergency response which is also commonly known as 'swatting'.
Using the previously gained access to doorbell cameras, Nelson and co-conspirators transmitted the live audio and video from the scene to social media explained the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Nelson and co-conspirators even used the Ring devices to audible taunt responding law enforcement officers during several of the swatting incidents noted the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"[Nelson] and his co-conspirators went on a digital crime spree, terrorizing innocent people around the country from behind their keyboards," prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. "While [Nelson] was safe behind his keyboard, he subjected others to real danger."
For example, on Nov. 11, Nelson was illegally in possession of the Yahoo! email and Ring device login credentials of a person living in Oxnard and he used those credentials to access the victims Ring account without permission previously shared the Department of Justice.
Nelson and a co-conspirator made a hoax call to the Oxnard Police Department by claiming to be a child whose father had a handgun inside of the home associated with the compromised Ring device explained the Department of Justice.
Officers with the Oxnard Police Department were dispatched to the call and cleared the residents from the home at gunpoint stated the Department of Justice.
According to the Department of Justice, Nelson then used the compromised Ring camera to threaten and taunt responding Oxnard Police Officers.
"The defendant’s malicious actions traumatized his victims and put their lives – and the lives of responding officers – at risk," said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office at the time of Nelson's guilty plea. "Swatting hoaxes drain crucial law enforcement resources at the expense of taxpayers and diverts police officers from responding to actual crisis situations. This case is a good reminder for security doorbell users that it's important to practice strict cyber hygiene by using difficult passwords and by employing two-factor authentication."
One of the co-conspirators, James Thomas Andrew McCarty, 22, of Kayenta, Arizona was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for both his role in these California incidents as well as additional charges in Arizona detailed the Department of Justice.
McCarty also admitted to illegally accessing a Florida victim's Ring camera and making a call to North Port Florida Police Department claiming to be the victim's husband and that he had just killed her, was holding a hostage, and had rigged explosives at the residence stated the Department of Justice.
According to the Department of Justice, McCarty then live streamed the law enforcement response and posted a message on social media taking credit for the successful swatting stating that, "he thought it was amusing".
