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22 year old gamer sentenced to 1 year and a day in prison for swatting

C

crimsonheadGCN

Banned
A 22-year-old Connecticut man who took part in bomb threats made against two Monmouth County schools last year was Tuesday sentenced to a year in prison.

The prison term for Matthew Tollis takes into account his role in the New Jersey "swatting" incidents as well as similar threats in Texas, Massachusetts and his home state, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Connecticut said in a news release.

In the Jan. 14, 2014 incident, a caller said there was a bomb inside St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel. After the school was evacuated and swept, authorities called the threat a hoax.

The following day, someone called in a similar threat to Allentown High School in Upper Freehold. Once again, a search revealed there was no bomb.

Tollis was part of a group consisting primarily of X-Box gamers who referred to themselves as "TCOD" (TeAM CrucifiX or Die).
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http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2015/10/gamer_sent_to_prison_for_nj_swatting_incidents.html

According to court documents, Tollis was part of a group of Microsoft X-Box gamers who call themselves TCOD (TeAM CrucifiX or Die). They used Skype to make hoax threats about bombs, hostages and shootings, and Tollis was involved in at least six incidents, including one at UConn on April 3 that resulted in a campus-wide lockdown for three hours.

He also participated in a swatting call to the Boston Convention Exhibition Center, Boston University, two high schools in New Jersey and a high school in Texas.

In court, Tollis admitted to finding locations for TCOD members to “swat” and got the telephone numbers and other information to make the calls.
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http://foxct.com/2015/10/06/uconn-swatter-sentenced-to-1-year-community-service/

I hope this dissuades people from doing these hoaxes, but I doubt it. We'll need more cases that ends in jail time.

EDIT: Changed the sources.

EDIT 2: Here is more about his group:

“Tollis explained that he began to look for ways to protect himself and his family from online abuse,” FBI investigators wrote in the federal affidavit obtained by ABC News. He told the FBI he joined a group of gamers who called themselves “TeAM Crucifix or Die” (TCOD) because “it would discourage others from bullying him.”

The group's membership allegedly includes gamers who live in the United Kingdom and use names like Verified, Jordy and Declaws, the affidavit states. Tollis used the name Hxrbor, according to the document.
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Inside a SWAT Prank Ring Allegedly Composed of X-Box Gamers
 
C

ClearData

Member
One step at a time. This is a positive sign and once you have a successfully prosecuted case you have precedent for other courts to look at.
 
D

DieAntwoord

Banned
We need more cases where the charges can be escalated to attempted murder seeing as how someone can be killed during these things.
 
T

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
EightBitNate said:
Wait what does that have to do with being a gamer?
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i assume because he did it on twitch? it's a thing, you put in a hoax phonecall to someone who's on stream and then you get your lolz when you see the swat guys burst in on some dude trying to play counter-strike pointing their guns at him and shouting 'GET ON THE FLOOR WITH YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD'.
 
B

BPoole

Member
He should do more. Swatting is extremely dangerous. The person being swatted could mistaken it as a home invasion and attempot to defend themselves which would likely result in them getting killed
 
E

EightBitNate

Member
godelsmetric said:
i assume because he did it on twitch? it's a thing, you put in a hoax phonecall to someone who's on stream and then you get your lolz when you see the swat guys burst in on some dude trying to play counter-strike pointing their guns at him and shouting 'GET ON THE FLOOR WITH YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD'.
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Oh I see. The article doesn't make that clear.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Isn't it just called swatting? Swatting hoaxes makes it sound like he was pretending to be swatted.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
godelsmetric said:
i assume because he did it on twitch? it's a thing, you put in a hoax phonecall to someone who's on stream and then you get your lolz when you see the swat guys burst in on some dude trying to play counter-strike pointing their guns at him and shouting 'GET ON THE FLOOR WITH YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD'.
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Twitch is not mentioned. They swatted schools and one private residence.
 
S

Solid Samus

Banned
I don't usually say this shit, but THAT right there, is a punchable face if I've ever seen one. It looks so soft and cuddly, like it'd give your fist a bloody massage.
 
L

LewieP

Member
Good. People do sometimes get killed or severely injured during SWAT raids. He's lucky he avoided an attempted murder charge.

I hope this discourages others from committing similar crimes.
 
C

criesofthepast

Member
Got off way easy. Will he even have to serve the full year or like a a third or half of it? In Canada I think you only have to serve a third of the sentence with good behaviour if it is under two years.
 
S

Slavik81

Member
smurfx said:
only 1 year? there should be a heavier penalty for this crap.
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Why? If you were thrown in prison for a year, you'd lose your job and have a difficult time finding a new one. You'd miss out on an entire year of your life.

You'd have to have a really shitty life to go to prison for a year and not care.
 
O

OmahaG8

Member
Slavik81 said:
Why? If you were thrown in prison for a year, you'd lose your job and have a difficult time finding a new one. You'd miss out on an entire year of your life.

You'd have to have a really shitty life to go to prison for a year and not care.
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Maybe they work in the food industry.
 
th4tguy

th4tguy

Member
smurfx said:
only 1 year? there should be a heavier penalty for this crap.
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3 years probation after that. 300 hours of community service. Pretty much puts your life on hold for 4 years and makes it difficult to succeed with a career after.
 
G

Game-Biz

Member
Jesus, only one year for almost (potentially) having someone innocent killed? Seems like he's getting off really, really easy here.
 
M

myca77

Member
My gut reaction is that one year isn't enough; but seeing as it's a felony crime, by the looks of it, the guilty party is gonna find it difficult once he get's out.

Let's hope the powers that be clamp down on more of these idiots, and throw a few books at them.
 
K

krang

Member
Holy crap, I sorta skim read the titles and read the word "I'm..." from the thread above before this.

I thought that was one hell of an admission, OP!
 
Gold_Loot

Gold_Loot

Member
Teknopathetic said:
"Hope you like prison food."


Edit: Oh, seems like he is going to prison and not jail. Thread title unclear.
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I would argue food in a county holding cell isn't much better. A friend of mine spent 90 days in one. He says it changed his overall outlook. Hopefully the bappens with this kid.
 
A

Atlas AS7-K

Banned
Its crazy how common crap like this is getting, I used to work dispatch for Police Fire and EMS and still talk to people in the field, its crazy how often this happens. And its also mind blowing that the kids that do this have no idea of the forces at work and the possible consequences. Not only for the person being swatted but for the officers who have to go in to that house unsure they are gonna come out. Or with the wasted police resources that might go to someone in real need.

They need to make an example out of these kids. Squash this nonsense.

Edit: oh yea forgot to mention, if you're going to get into streaming, and start attracting any sort of audience its not a bad idea to call your local authorities let them know you are a streamer.
 
V

Valkrai

Member
It should be longer, it wastes the police time, and people's time and money. This shit could get someone killed.
 
M

Madness

Member
Those crazy 'X-Box Gamers'... No sympathy for SWAT'ers. It's a dangerous situation. One cop who panics etc. Imagine if you have a dog in your house afraid or excited at strangers, these cops come slamming on your door, open up, open up. More stronger sentences will finally make these morons realize this isn't a game, that they're putting lives in danger, wasting time and money that could be put to better use elsewhere.
 
J

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
sounds reasonable, if a bit low.

hopefully this serves to reduce the number of these dumbdumbs acting out.
 
Arkos

Arkos

Nose how to spell and rede to
The Flash said:
Hope you like prison food.
Click to expand...
Teknopathetic said:
"Hope you like prison food."
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I, too, want to gloat over this guy going to prison when I've probably never spent a second in jail in my life.

Haha! So funny! Much joke!


myca77 said:
My gut reaction is that one year isn't enough; but seeing as it's a felony crime, by the looks of it, the guilty party is gonna find it difficult once he get's out.

Let's hope the powers that be clamp down on more of these idiots, and throw a few books at them.
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Haha! And yes, due to our laws he will forever have trouble finding work as a felon. A life sentence! Haha!
 
K

KDR_11k

Member
Slavik81 said:
Why? If you were thrown in prison for a year, you'd lose your job and have a difficult time finding a new one. You'd miss out on an entire year of your life.

You'd have to have a really shitty life to go to prison for a year and not care.
Click to expand...

Swatting can get people killed. That's why many of us think it's pretty close to attempted murder.
 
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