A Man Falsely Reported That His Fantasy Football Rival Planned to Blow Up Norway . . . and Iowa
We're in Week Three of the fantasy football season . . . and if anyone in your league is taking things too seriously . . . to the point where they're making international threats . . . you might need to find a new league.
A 25-year-old man from Philadelphia named Matthew Gabriel pleaded guilty to two counts of "interstate and foreign threats" after he made false tips to police in the United States AND overseas claiming his rival was a threat.
It all started last year when the two men had some kind of fantasy football argument in a chat . . . it's unclear if it was some heated banter that got out of hand, or if they were hotly debating a waiver pickup or something.
Matthew knew the other guy was studying abroad in Norway, so he called the authorities there and made an "anonymous tip" that his rival was planning a mass shooting at a concert and a department store.
Norway says they spent 900 hours of manpower investigating the case before they realized it was a hoax.
During that months-long investigation, Matthew did it again.
This time, he emailed another fictitious threat . . . this time to the University of Iowa. In an account under another name, he claimed the same fantasy football group member was threatening to "blow up the school."
Naturally, the FBI was brought in to investigate, and Matthew was eventually charged.
Matthew is scheduled to be sentenced in January . . .
He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Read More HERE
A 17-year-old woman in a pink shower cap was arrested, after she stole and crashed an "empty, out-of-service subway train" in New York City.
Read More HERE