PHOENIX, Ariz. – James Thomas Andrew McCarty, 22, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and formerly of Kayenta, Arizona, was arrested on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, following a federal grand jury indictment of 26 counts including Making False Statements, Cyberstalking, and Aggravated Identity Theft. A detention hearing was held on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, in Charlotte, North Carolina, at which point he was detained and remanded to the District of Arizona for further proceedings. McCarty is also pending federal charges in the Central District of California https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/grand-jury-indicts-2-swatting-scheme-took-over-ring-doorbells-across-us-livestream.
The indictment alleges that McCarty made 13 phone calls from Kayenta, Arizona, to police departments and schools in Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, and Oklahoma between January 17, 2021, and June 30, 2021, containing varying threats that he possessed bombs, propane bottles and tanks, and that he would shoot police if they responded. Two of the calls specifically threatened school shootings in Westfield, Indiana, and Vinita, Oklahoma. Seven calls involved identity theft because McCarty allegedly used the names of actual individuals purportedly making the phone calls associated with the locations of the false emergencies.
A conviction for False Statements about bombs and other explosives carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine, or both.
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