Rochester woman sentenced for her involvement in a swatting incident

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Dawnn Marie Walters, 53, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers, was sentenced to serve one year probation, to include six months home detention, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Colleen D. Holland.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright, who is handling the case, stated that in August 2023, law enforcement commenced a local swatting call investigation in the Rochester area. Swatting involves and individual making a false report of a serious crime, such as a hostage situation or active shooter, in order to send a SWAT team or law enforcement response to a targeted location. The swatting call in this case involved individuals pretending to be another individual identified as C.F., stating that they had shot someone and provided C.F. parents’ address as the location they had shot someone.

During the investigation, law enforcement discovered several conversations that Walters took part in online, discussing targeting C.F. and her devices. In one of those conversations, Walters agreed to assist a co-conspirator in accessing C.F.’s device. With Walters assistance, the co-conspirator gained access to C.F.’s online accounts, including C.F.’s personal email account. After accessing the email account, an email was sent from C.F.’s personal email account to multiple Monroe County Legislators and New York State Assembly members. The email included C.F.’s name, telephone number, and photographs of deceased children. Other emails sent from C.F.’s email to New York State Assembly members included threats to “shoot up some schools in New York,” which were meant to cause law enforcement to investigate C.F. as the emails were sent from C.F.'s personal email address.

The sentencing is a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm and the Orleans County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Christopher Bourque.

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