FBI most wanted suspect from Columbus to remain in federal custody on swatting charges
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Columbus man who made the FBI’s most wanted list for charges stemming from swatting calls across the United States will be held in federal custody until his trial in another state.
Brayden Grace, who was arrested May 16, appeared in federal court Monday afternoon. He will appear in federal court Monday afternoon. He is accused in multiple swatting calls across the country, including one to Hollywood Casino in west Columbus. He faces charges of conspiracy, interstate stalking, interstate threatening communication and interstate threat involving fire or explosives.
Grace, 18 appeared in federal court on Monday at 1 p.m. for a detention hearing, during which a judge decided to detain him. Grace will be transported to Maryland to face charges there, the U.S. attorney's office said. Grace's next court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
Federal court documents stated that on Jan. 5, Grace called staff at the local Hollywood Casino and threatened a shooting, as well as burning down the building unless he received $100,000 in cash and a helicopter.
Two phone calls were placed, one from a person allegedly inside the casino in which the caller said he had a bomb strapped to his chest. The caller told a 911 operator that a second person had a sniper rifle on top of the parking garage.
A second call came in from a person claiming to be in the parking garage with a sniper rifle in his hand. He told a 911 operator there was also a person inside the casino with a bomb who would “blow this place up.” Police combed the area and a Columbus Division of Police helicopter searched the entire perimeter. Investigators tried to ping multiple phone numbers during the investigation to find the callers' locations, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
The FBI said that Grace was part of a group active on Instagram and Telegram called “Purgatory,” which used the social media platforms to plan multiple swatting calls between December and January. Court documents said afterward, the group would announce the swatting calls they made on the platforms.
The callers would reportedly use the nicknames “bit coin”, “Simswapping”, “user data god”, “Tuyal” and “yahoo.emails.”
In addition to the casino call, Grace and others in Purgatory are accused of the following other swatting calls according to a federal indictment:
- A threat to burn down a residential trailer park in Alabama.
- A shooting threat against a teacher and unnamed students at a high school in the state of Delaware
- A shooting and bomb threat to the Albany International Airport in New York
- A multiple homicide event and shooting threat against individuals in a residence in Eastman, Georgia.
If convicted, Grace faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy, cyberstalking and interstate threat, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each charge to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives.
The FBI did not share if it had found other members of Purgatory or if it was also looking for them in central Ohio. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said that Grace conspired with Owen Jarboe, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Evan Strauss, of Moneta, Virginia, among others.