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ANN KENEVAN on May 2, 2025

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ANN KENEVAN

Wisconsin man sentenced to federal prison for 2020 Ring doorbell ‘swatting’ scheme LOS ANGELES (WBAY) - The man who taunted police as part of a “swatting” spree that involved gaining access to ... View MoreWisconsin man sentenced to federal prison for 2020 Ring doorbell ‘swatting’ scheme LOS ANGELES (WBAY) - The man who taunted police as part of a “swatting” spree that involved gaining access to people’s Ring doorbell cameras and livestreaming the police response to the emergency calls has been sentenced. According to the United States Department of Justice, Kya Christian Nelson of Racine was sentenced to three years and eight months in federal prison for his role in the “swatting” scheme that took place in November of 2020. “[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.” Nelson, who is doing time in a Kentucky state prison after being convicted in an unrelated case, has been in federal custody since August 2024.Federal authorities in California said Nelson and co-conspirators gained access to home security door cameras from November 7, 2020, to November 13, 2020. Nelson was able to acquire unauthorized username and password information for Yahoo! email accounts belonging to victims throughout the United States. The conspirators then determined whether the owner of each compromised Yahoo! account also had a Ring account using the same email address and password that could control associated internet-connected Ring doorbell camera devices. Using that information, they identified and gathered additional information about their victims, authorities said. Then, the conspirators placed false emergency reports or telephone calls to local law enforcement in the areas where the victims lived, with the intent of eliciting an emergency police response to the victim’s residence. The conspirators then accessed the Ring cameras to livestream the police response on social media. Authorities said they also taunted responding police officers and victims through the Ring devices during several of the incidents. A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California cites several incidents involving Nelson and co-conspirators.For example, on November 8, 2020, a hoax telephone call was placed to the West Covina Police Department in California. The fake call claimed to be from a child reporting her parents had guns and were shooting inside the house. Based on this hoax call, West Covina Police Department officers made an emergency response to the house and cleared the residents from the home at gunpoint. During the police response, authorities said Nelson accessed the Ring doorbell camera located at the West Covina residence and used it to verbally threaten and taunt the police officers who responded to the call. One of Nelson’s indicted co-conspirators, James Thomas Andrew McCarty, 22, of Kayenta, Arizona, was sentenced in June 2024 to seven years in federal prison both for his role in this case, and on additional charges in the District of Arizona. In connection with the Ring swatting incidents, McCarty pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy as Nelson. McCarty further admitted to illegally accessing a victim’s Ring camera in Florida and making a call to the North Port Florida Police Department, in which he purported to be the victim’s husband who had just killed her, was holding a hostage, and had rigged explosives at the residence. McCarty then livestreamed the law enforcement response and posted a message on social media taking credit for the swatting incident and stating that he thought it was amusing.. https://www.wbay.com/2025/05/01/wisconsin-man-sentenced-federal-prison-2020-ring-doorbell-swatting-scheme/

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Wisconsin man sentenced to federal prison for 2020 Ring doorbell ‘swatting’ scheme www.wbay.com

May 2, 2025