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Thomasz Szabo, also known as Plank, Jonah, and Cypher, 26, of Romania, pleaded guilty today to being the leader of a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims across the United States with “swatting” and bomb threats. Szabo and his co-conspirators falsely reported ongoing violent emergencies at government buildings, houses of worship, and private residences, including the homes of senior government officials.

“This defendant led a dangerous swatting criminal conspiracy, deliberately threatening dozens of government officials with violent hoaxes and targeting our nation’s security infrastructure from behind a screen overseas,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This case reflects our continued focus on protecting the American people and working with international partners to stop these threats at their source.”

“Today, Szabo pleaded guilty to a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims with swatting and bomb threats, including to government buildings, houses of worship and homes of government officials,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Swatting endangers lives and will not be tolerated by the FBI. We are fully committed to working with our partners to bring to justice those criminals hiding behind keyboards and threatening violence.”

“This defendant’s targeted and ruthless behavior put countless people in danger, including law enforcement, public officials, and ordinary citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “Swatting attacks, that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there, drain precious resources and can result in major injury or even death. Anyone who hijacks police resources for senseless crimes like these will have to answer for their actions.”  

According to court documents, Szabo was the founder and leader of an online community that, starting in late 2020, engaged in a pattern of bomb threats and “swatting” — that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there.

As leader of the group, Szabo made false reports to U.S. law enforcement including a threat in December 2020 to commit a mass-shooting at New York City synagogues, and a threat in January 2021 to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol and kill the President-elect. Szabo publicized his “swatting” activity to his followers and encouraged them to engage in similar behavior.

Beginning on Dec. 24, 2023, and continuing through early January 2024, subordinate members of Szabo’s group perpetrated a spree of swatting and bomb threats that included, as its victims, at least 25 Members of Congress or family members of Members of Congress; at least six then-current or former senior U.S. Executive Branch officials, including multiple cabinet-level officials; at least 13 then-current or former senior federal law enforcement officials, including the heads of multiple federal law enforcement agencies; multiple members of the federal judiciary; at least 27 then-current or former state government officials or family members of such officials; at least four religious institutions; and multiple members of the media.

During that time period, one of those subordinates bragged to Szabo: “I did 25+ swattings today,” and “creating massive havoc in [A]merica. $500,000+ in taxpayers wasted in just two days.”

Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and one count of threats involving explosives, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024.

The U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office and Criminal Investigative Division, the FBI’s Washington and Minneapolis Field Offices, and the U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing Szabo’s arrest and extradition and assisted with securing evidence from abroad, including through mutual legal assistance requests. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Secret Service’s Bucharest Resident Office, Miami Field Office, Syracuse Resident Office, Springfield Resident Office; the FBI’s Legat Office in Bucharest; and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Washington, the District of South Dakota, the Middle District of Florida, the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of Illinois, and the Northern District of New York. The Romanian authorities’ assistance was critical to the successful investigation of the case and extradition of Szabo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Mulroe for the District of Columbia is prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division announced today that it will require Keysight Technologies Inc. (Keysight) to divest Spirent Communications plc.’s (Spirent) high-speed ethernet testing, network security testing, and RF channel emulation businesses to resolve antitrust concerns arising from their proposed $1.5 billion merger.

The Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the Division filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the Division’s competitive concerns.

“This structural solution preserves competition for key testing equipment used to ensure that data moves quickly and securely across the world. The proposed divestiture to Viavi, an established and innovative test and measurement company, ensures that American consumers and businesses will continue to benefit from competition that promotes innovation, and which allows American companies to maintain global leadership,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Antitrust Division. “This consent decree proceeding secures enforceable commitments from the merging parties, provides transparency into the Antitrust Division’s efforts to resolve merger investigations, and gives the public an opportunity to comment as provided by statute.”

According to the complaint, Keysight and Spirent dominate the markets in the United States for high-speed ethernet testing, network security testing, and RF channel emulators. High-tech companies – including chipset manufacturers, cloud computing providers, mobile network operators, government labs, and large enterprises – rely on the Defendants’ products to validate that their networks and network equipment are functional, secure, and integrating the latest technology. The parties together account for 85% of the market for high-speed ethernet testing, more than 60% of the market for network security testing, and more than 50% of the market for RF channel emulators. Keysight and Spirent are each other’s closest competitors in these markets and compete head-to-head to develop and sell this crucial test equipment. Without the proposed divestiture, Keysight’s acquisition of Spirent would likely result in higher prices, lower quality, and reduced innovation to the detriment of customers and American consumers.

The proposed settlement requires Keysight to divest Spirent’s high-speed ethernet testing, network security testing, and RF channel emulation businesses to Viavi, including all tangible and intangible assets necessary to produce and sell these products. Together, these three business lines account for about 40% of Spirent’s total revenues. Viavi is expected to hire certain key Spirent employees that today support the divested business lines.

Keysight is an American company incorporated in Delaware with its principal office in Santa Rosa, California. Keysight offers design, emulation, and test solutions across a range of industries, including commercial communications; aerospace, defense, and government; and electronic industrial. In 2024, Keysight had global revenue of approximately $4.97 billion.   

Spirent is a global company incorporated in the United Kingdom with its principal office in Crawley, England. Spirent offers automated test and assurance solutions for networks, cybersecurity, and satellite positioning. In 2024, Spirent had global revenue of approximately $460.2 million.

As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement, along with the Department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Jared Hughes, Assistant Chief, Media, Entertainment, and Communications Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 7000, Washington, D.C. 20530 or via email at ATR.MEC.Information@usdoj.gov. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.

Note: The defendants whose names are underlined hyperlink to press releases.

WASHINGTON — Extensive coordination between the Justice Department and law enforcement authorities in Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Guatemala, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Panama, Peru, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom (UK) resulted in the extraditions in April and May of dozens of individuals. The defendants returned to the United States are alleged to have committed crimes — including child sexual abuse and rape, murder, hate crimes, assault, narcoterrorism, drug trafficking, alien smuggling, cybercrime, money laundering, fraud, aggravated robbery and extortion — in a number of U.S. states and federal districts, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia.

The fugitives extradited to the United States include:

• Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as Mishka, Michael, Commander Butcher, and Butcher, 21, a Georgian national and alleged leader of a white supremacist group, was extradited from Moldova to face charges in the Eastern District of New York for soliciting hate crimes and planning a mass casualty attack in New York City. As the alleged leader of the white supremacist group “Maniac Murder Cult,” an international, racially motivated violent extremist group that adheres to a neo-Nazi ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups that it deems “undesirables,” Chkhikvishvili allegedly traveled to Brooklyn in 2022 and actively solicited acts of mass violence with a person who was, unbeknownst to Chkhikvishvili, an undercover FBI employee. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili allegedly began planning a mass casualty attack to take place on New Year’s Eve, which would involve an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities. In January 2024, as alleged, the scheme evolved and Chkhikvishvili specifically directed the undercover FBI employee to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn.

• Liridon Masurica, also known as @blackdb, 33, a national of Kosovo and alleged administrator of an online criminal marketplace, was extradited from Kosovo to face charges of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and fraudulent use of 15 or more unauthorized access devices in the Middle District of Florida.

• Adrian Alberto Cano Gomez, also known as Andrea, 45, a national of Colombia and an alleged member of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a designated foreign terrorist organization, was extradited from Colombia to face charges in the Southern District of Texas of narco-terrorism and distributing kilogram quantities of cocaine from Colombia.

• Aler Baldomero Samayoa-Recinos, also known as Chicharra, 58, a national of Guatemala and alleged leader of a prolific Guatemalan drug trafficking organization, was extradited from Guatemala to face charges in the District of Columbia of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms of cocaine for importation to the United States.

• Daniel Flores, 49, a national of Mexico, was extradited from Mexico to face charges of first-degree murder for the 1995 killing of two brothers, both U.S. Marines, ages 22 and 19, in Cook County, Illinois.

• Manuel Alejandro Vasquez, 47, a citizen of Mexico, was extradited from Mexico to face a charge of murder in Ventura County, California. Vasquez’s two co-defendants were convicted in 1999 and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the 1998 murder of a man in his home over an alleged unpaid debt. Vasquez fled to Mexico before charges could be filed against him.

• Tyler Buchanan, 23, a UK national, was extradited from Spain to face charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in the Central District of California. Among other crimes, Buchanan and his co-conspirators allegedly stole cryptocurrency worth millions of dollars following phishing attacks on over 45 companies based in the United States, Canada, and the UK.

• Felix Manuel Mejia-Gonzalez, 33, a Dominican citizen, was extradited from the Dominican Republic to face charges of fentanyl trafficking in the District of New Hampshire.

• Samuel Steven Huggler, 28, a U.S. citizen, was extradited from Spain, to face charges relating to the alleged murder and attempted murders of three of his siblings in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Huggler is charged with aiding, inducing, or causing murder, three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of aiding, inducing, or causing attempted murder, and possession of an altered firearm. 

• Michel Patrick Desalles, 54, a Mauritian national, was extradited from Mauritius to face a charge of murder in the second degree in the State of New York. Desalles allegedly choked his employer to death with zip ties and immediately fled the United States in 2017.

• Juan Miguel Roman-Balderas, 45, a citizen of Mexico, was extradited from Mexico to face two charges of murder in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Roman-Balderas is alleged to have stabbed to death his 28-year-old ex-girlfriend in April 2014 in Greenbelt, Maryland.

• Rody L. Wilcox, 50, a U.S. citizen, was extradited from Georgia to face charges of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 years of age filed in Latah County, Idaho. Wilcox allegedly sexually assaulted a six-year-old child on multiple occasions in 2023. In 2024, Wilcox fled Idaho while on bond. Through OIA’s cooperation with the FBI, U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and Georgian authorities, Wilcox was arrested in Georgia on Aug. 16, 2024, while en route to the Russian Federation.

• Miguel Angel Urbano-Vazquez, 48, a citizen of Mexico, was extradited from Mexico to face charges of aggravated first-degree murder and rape in Pierce County, Washington. Urbano-Vazquez is alleged to have raped four victims between March and October 2002, one of whom he is also alleged to have murdered in the course of rape.

• Gilberto Gutierrez, 46, a citizen of El Salvador, was extradited from El Salvador to face charges of rape, child abuse, and related sex offenses in Wicomico County, Maryland. Gutierrez allegedly repeatedly sexually abused two girls under the age of 10 years old between approximately 1999 and 2004.

• Ramon Manriquez Castillo, 68, a dual U.S. and Mexican citizen; Edgar Rodriguez Ruano, 29, a Mexican citizen; Fernando Javier Escobar Tito, 48, an Ecuadorian citizen; and Anderson Jair Gamboa Nieto, 30, a Colombian citizen, were surrendered by Guinea-Bissau to face drug trafficking charges in the Southern District of Florida. The co-defendants are alleged members of a transnational drug trafficking organization comprised of several cartels in Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela, and they allegedly conspired to distribute large quantities of cocaine through Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Guinea-Bissau using a U.S.-registered airplane, with a U.S. citizen onboard, from about November 2023 to September 2024. They are also charged with distributing cocaine in these countries using an airplane with a U.S. citizen onboard.

• Artem Aleksandrovych Stryzhak, 35, a Ukrainian national, was extradited from Spain to face charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, extortion, and related activity in connection with computers in the Eastern District of New York and the Middle District of Florida. According to the charges in the Eastern District of New York, Stryzhak is one of the administrators of the Nefilim ransomware gang. The Middle District of Florida charges allege that Stryzhak used the Hive ransomware to engage in a computer hacking and extortion scheme that targeted businesses in the United States and abroad. The Hive ransomware group is estimated to have attacked approximately 1,500 victims and extorted approximately $110 million in ransom payments.

The fugitives extradited by the United States include:

• Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, a Canadian citizen, native of Pakistan, and convicted terrorist, was extradited to India to stand trial on 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 160 people, including six Americans, and wounded hundreds more.

• Aaron Seth Juarez, 26, a U.S. citizen, was extradited to Mexico to be prosecuted for femicide for the 2019 killing of his approximately 31-year-old stepmother, whose body he allegedly buried in the backyard of her Tijuana home. 

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs (OIA), along with the U.S. Marshals Service, provided significant assistance in securing the defendants’ arrests and extraditions. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California and the Eastern District of California litigated with OIA the successful outgoing extradition cases for Rana and Juarez, respectively. OIA and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions from Colombia. The Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) also provided assistance with the extraditions from Guatemala and Kosovo. The Justice Department thanks and acknowledges the instrumental role of its law enforcement partners in Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Guatemala, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Panama, Peru, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom for making these extraditions possible.

An indictment and criminal complaint are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Federal grand juries in Milwaukee and Los Angeles each returned indictments charging two foreign nationals, Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom and a U.S. lawful permanent resident, with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking (Los Angeles) and conspiracy, smuggling, and violations of the Arms Export Control Act (Milwaukee).

“As alleged, the defendants targeted a U.S. resident for exercising his constitutional right to free speech and conspired to traffic sensitive American military technology to the Chinese regime,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This is a blatant assault on both our national security and our democratic values. This Justice Department will not tolerate foreign repression on U.S. soil, nor will we allow hostile nations to infiltrate or exploit our defense systems. We will act decisively to expose and dismantle these threats wherever they emerge.”

“The defendants allegedly plotted to harass and interfere with an individual who criticized the actions of the People’s Republic of China while exercising their constitutionally protected free speech rights within the United States of America,” said FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. “The same individuals also are charged with trying to obtain and export sensitive U.S. military technology to China. I want to commend the good work of the FBI and our partners in the U.S and overseas in putting a stop to these illegal activities.”

Allegations in the Central District of California

According to court documents, beginning in October 2023, Cui and Miller enlisted two individuals (Individual 1 and Individual 2) inside the United States to carry out a plot to prevent the Victim from protesting President Xi’s appearance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2023. The victim had previously made public statements in opposition to the policies and actions of the PRC government and President Xi.

“The indictment alleges that Chinese foreign actors targeted a victim in our nation because he criticized the Chinese government and its president,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “My office will continue to use all legal methods available to hold accountable foreign nationals engaging in criminal activity on our soil.”

Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 1 and Individual 2 were affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.

In the weeks leading up to the APEC summit, Cui and Miller directed and coordinated an interstate scheme to surveil the victim, to install a tracking device on the victim’s car, to slash the tires on the victim’s car, and to purchase and destroy a pair of artistic statues created by the victim depicting President Xi and President Xi’s wife.

A similar scheme took place in the spring of 2025, after the victim announced that he planned to make public an online video feed depicting two new artistic statues of President Xi and his wife. In connection with these plots, Cui and Miller paid two other individuals (Individual 3 and Individual 4), approximately $36,500 to convince the victim to desist from the online display of the statues. Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 3 and Individual 4 were also affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.

Allegations in the Eastern District of Wisconsin

According to court documents, beginning in November 2023, Miller and Cui solicited the procurement of U.S. defense articles, including missiles, air defense radar, drones, and cryptographic devices with associated crypto ignition keys for unlawful export from the United States to the People’s Republic of China from two individuals (Individual 5 and Individual 6).  

In connection with the scheme, Cui and Miller discussed with Individuals 5 and 6 ways to export a cryptographic device from the United States to the People’s Republic of China, including concealing the device in a blender, small electronics, or motor starter, and shipping the device first to Hong Kong. Cui and Miller paid approximately $10,000 as a deposit for the cryptographic device via a courier in the United States and a wire transfer to a U.S. bank account.

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If convicted, Cui and Miller face the following maximum penalties: five years in prison for conspiracy; five years in prison for interstate stalking; 20 years in prison for violation of the Arms Export Control Act; and 10 years in prison for smuggling.

The FBI is investigating the case. The United States is coordinating with Serbian authorities regarding the pending extraditions of Cui and Miller from Serbia.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Ryan and Amanda B. Elbogen for the Central District of California, Benjamin Taibleson for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Trial Attorneys Leslie Esbrook and Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the cases, with valuable assistance provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.