Hagerstown Teen Admits to Swatting Scheme Targeting Multiple States

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A Hagerstown, Maryland teen has pleaded guilty to a series of federal charges connected to a nationwide swatting conspiracy that placed numerous communities at risk and diverted emergency resources. Owen Jarboe, 19, admitted to participating in coordinated efforts to make false emergency calls that triggered armed law enforcement responses, often involving threats of violence, fires, or explosives.

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Court documents reveal that between December 2023 and January 18, 2024, Jarboe and others conspired to execute a string of swatting incidents using various social media platforms, including Telegram and Instagram. They operated under the name “Purgatory” and used technology to hide their identities. The group’s activities included threats to shoot students and staff at a high school in Delaware, false reports of mass violence in Georgia, and threats to bomb Albany International Airport and a casino in Ohio.

The FBI and other agencies traced these threats back to Jarboe and his co-conspirators, noting the serious danger posed by such hoaxes. Swatting, which involves deceiving authorities into dispatching emergency services to a false crisis, can lead to injury or worse for both law enforcement and civilians. The use of shared scripts and spoofed phone numbers was a deliberate tactic to mask their locations and identities.

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Jarboe pleaded guilty to conspiracy, cyberstalking, interstate threatening communications, and threats to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives. Each conspiracy-related charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, while the threat-related charges involving fire and explosives carry up to 10 years each. His sentencing is scheduled for July 23 in federal court. The final sentence will be determined based on federal guidelines and judicial discretion.

The investigation was led by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office and supported by law enforcement agencies in several states, including Georgia, New York, Ohio, and Delaware. U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes and her team have emphasized the gravity of the crimes and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to pursuing hoax threats as serious federal offenses.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland

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