A 68-year-old Santa Monica man pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he \u201cdoxxed\u201d an attorney who works with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorities said. <\/p>\n
In 2025, federal prosecutors said Gregory John Curcio published the home address of the attorney to Facebook and urged people to \u201cswat\u201d her. \u201cSwatting\u201d refers to placing a fake emergency call that will prompt a law enforcement response. <\/p>\n
Curcio had been in a long-term feud with the victim\u2019s mother, prosecutors said in court filings. The victim never met Curcio but alleged he had harassed her family for years, according to a statement releases Friday by the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
No one was injured in the incident. Curcio faces up to five years in federal prison at sentencing in August, officials said. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to holding those accountable who endanger the safety of our federal personnel,\u201d First Assitant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a statement. \u201cDoxing is not just dangerous, it\u2019s illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid widespread protests, Trump administration officials have repeatedly complained about protesters and activists \u201cdoxing\u201d agents employed by ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The slang word \u201cdoxing\u201d refers to the unwanted publication of a person\u2019s information online, and Trump officials have often bemoaned the release of the names of agents connected to on-duty violence and instances of agents locations being revealed.<\/p>\n
But \u201cdoxing\u201d is a crime only when prosecutors can prove someone published a federal employee\u2019s protected personal information for the purposes of threatening them or inciting violence. The charge has been brought by federal prosecutors only five times nationwide since President Trump was reelected, according to a review of court records, and all of those cases were filed in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Curcio\u2019s case marks the first guilty plea or conviction related to such charges in several years. Three anti-ICE protesters were indicted on charges they \u201cdoxxed\u201d an ICE agent last year, but the charges were later dropped after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent admitted the women had not actually published the purported victim\u2019s address. <\/p>\n