BALTIMORE, MD—A Virginia man pleaded guilty this week to federal swatting and cyberstalking charges, admitting his role in an online group that coordinated false emergency calls designed to draw armed law enforcement responses to targeted locations.
Evan Strauss, 27, of Moneta, Virginia, entered his plea in federal court in Baltimore, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Kelly O. Hayes and Acting Special Agent in Charge Amanda M. Koldjeski of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office.
Strauss pleaded guilty to conspiracy, cyberstalking, interstate threatening communications, and threats to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives.
According to the plea agreement, Strauss helped create and operate an online group called “Purgatory.” The group used social media platforms like Telegram and Instagram to plan and boast about “swatting” and “doxxing” activities. Swatting involves falsely reporting an emergency to elicit an armed police response, while doxxing is the act of publishing private information online with malicious intent, often to facilitate swatting.
From December 10, 2023, to January 18, 2024, Strauss and his co-conspirators, including one from Hagerstown, Maryland, placed swatting calls to emergency services. They used shared scripts and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services to hide their identities.
In one instance, Strauss called the Newark Delaware Police Department, falsely claiming to hear gunshots in a school hallway. Moments later, the Maryland co-conspirator called again, threatening to shoot a specific Newark High School teacher and kill students. These calls led to the school being placed on lockdown as police responded. Strauss and others later bragged about the incident online, posting news coverage images to their group’s social media accounts.
Strauss also encouraged a co-conspirator to “shut down” an airport. The conspirator then called the Albany Police Department in Albany, New York, threatening to “shoot everybody up” at Albany International Airport and claiming a “friend” would detonate bombs. Police units were dispatched in response to these threats.
Additionally, the Maryland co-conspirator called the Houston County Sheriff’s Office in Dothan, Alabama, threatening to burn down a residential trailer park and kill responding law enforcement officers.
Strauss faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count of threatening to damage or destroy by fire or explosive. He also faces a maximum of five years for conspiracy, cyberstalking, and interstate threats.
Two co-conspirators, Brayden Grace, 19, of Columbus, Ohio, and Owen Jarboe, 19, of Hagerstown, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels
