Philadelphia man pleads guilty after threatening mass shooting following fantasy football argument

A Philadelphia man admitted to reporting a fake mass shooting and then making a bomb threat in retaliation for a fantasy football argument, authorities said Wednesday.

Matthew Gabriel, 25, faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of interstate and foreign transmission of a threat of bodily harm, the United States Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia said.

However, it is more likely that Gabriel, a house painter, will be sentenced to 15 months of house arrest when he is sentenced in January, said his defense attorney Lonny Fish.

The lawyer said he was still baffled by his client’s actions.

“I don’t know what he was thinking,” Fish told NBC News on Thursday. “It was definitely not smart.”

Gabriel had “an online disagreement with a member of his fantasy football chat group” before that victim, a University of Iowa student, traveled to Norway for a study abroad program on August 3 of last year.

The angry fantasy player then posted an online tip-off to the Norwegian police security service – the Politiets Sikkerhetstjeneste (PST) – claiming that the foreign student wanted to commit mass murder.

“On August 15, a man named (the victim) is traveling in Oslo and has planned a shooting in which several people on his side are said to be involved. They plan to take as many people as possible with them at a concert and then go to a department store,” Gabriel wrote, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“I don’t know any more people, I just can’t bear the burden of random people dying. He plans to arrive there unarmed, spend a few normal days and then carry out the attack. Please be ready. He is about 5’7″ tall and has red hair and is coming from America, I think on the 10th or 11th. He should have weapons with him. Please be careful.”

Norwegian authorities have spent 900 hours investigating and refuting this threat, Fish said.

Then, on March 22 of this year, despite knowing he was under investigation for the Norway revelation, Gabriel sent an email to the University of Iowa telling university officials there that the same victim planned to detonate a bomb on campus, prosecutors said.

That email “contained a screenshot of a message from the fantasy football group that said, ‘Hi University of Iowa, a man named (victim) told me he was going to blow up the school,'” the U.S. attorney said.

“Gabriel knew that the victim would not blow up the university and that the message had been sent in jest by another member of the fantasy football group in light of Gabriel’s previous threat,” prosecutors said.

“While already charged with a fake threat instigated by, of all things, his fantasy football league, Matthew Gabriel inexplicably decided to send another one,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero. “His actions were extremely disruptive and consumed significant law enforcement resources on two continents, diverting them from actual incidents and investigations.”

Defense attorney Fish said he was grateful that the government agreed to house arrest.

“Frankly, he’s very lucky to have this opportunity,” Fish said. “Most people would go to jail. This is not the kind of thing you get house arrest for. This is the kind of thing you (often) go to jail for.”

Court records did not specify the nature of Gabriel’s argument with the University of Iowa student, and Fish declined to provide such details.

“The guy (the victim) didn’t deserve it, I can tell you that,” Fish said. “He (Gabriel) apologized to the victim, very apologetic. He (Gabriel) was immature and he (the victim) didn’t deserve it. There was no justification for it.”