In a disturbing case of digital crime, Kya Christian Nelson, a 23-year-old from Racine, Wisconsin, has been sentenced to 44 months in federal prison. His conviction stems from a series of “swatting” incidents that took place over the course of a week in 2020, targeting unsuspecting victims across the United States, including locations in Southern California.

Scheme Details

According to the United States Department of Justice, Nelson and his accomplices accessed Ring doorbell cameras by exploiting previously hacked Yahoo email accounts. They utilized the same email and password combinations to determine if the accounts were linked to any Ring users.

Mock Emergencies

Once they gained access, Nelson’s group proceeded to contact local law enforcement agencies, fabricating emergencies to provoke an armed response at the homes of their victims. These incidents not only caused chaos but also posed a significant danger to innocent individuals.

Specific Incidents

In one notable case on November 8, 2020, Nelson and an accomplice hacked into the Ring account of a West Covina resident. Pretending to be a child, they reported a violent altercation within the home, claiming multiple guns were present and shots had been fired. This prompted a heavily armed police response, during which the victims were forcibly removed from their home.

In another incident in Oxnard, California, Nelson again impersonated a child while calling the police to report a similar dangerous scenario, alleging that their father was armed and threatening. The police, responding to the hoax, entered the residence at gunpoint, further escalating the danger to the unsuspecting occupants.

Legal Consequences

N elson has been held in federal custody since August 2024, following his guilty plea in January related to these swatting incidents. Alongside him, his accomplice James Andre McCarty, 22, from Arizona, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for his involvement, which included a separate swatting event in Florida where he falsely claimed to have killed his wife and taken a hostage.

Investigation and Impact

The FBI conducted the investigation into these crimes, which prosecutors described as a “digital crime spree,” targeting innocent people while the perpetrators remained safely behind their screens. They emphasized that the actions of Nelson and his co-conspirators placed unnecessary risks on the victims and law enforcement personnel alike.