Shane Sonderman, 20, of Lauderdale County, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for participating in a group whose swatting call led to the death of a grandfather in Sumner County, Tennessee, last April. According to information presented in court, from at least July 2018 through May 2020, Sonderman conspired with others throughout the United States and other countries to extort the holders of unique Instagram and Twitter handles by "swatting" them - a harassment technique that involves deceiving emergency services dispatchers into sending police and emergency SWAT or response teams to the unwitting third party's residential address when no actual emergency exists. Sonderman and his cocon-spirators did this to extort their targets into giving up control of their social media identifiers or "handles" so they could be sold to others. The group also sent harassing text messages and ordered unpaid-fbr food to be delivered to their targets' homes.
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