A Washington man has been sentenced to three years in prison for an elaborate prank which lead to a Swat team raiding an innocent family's home.

Randall Ellis, 19, was charged with multiple felony counts after hacking into a computer system in Orange County, California and tricking the authorities into launching a raid on the home of a couple in Lake Forrest, California.

After compromising computers in the emergency services system, authorities said that Ellis placed a prank call to the home of the couple in order to verify their names.

The man then placed a call to the local 911 service reporting a drug overdose at the address. The hacker later upped the stakes, telling dispatchers that he had shot and killed someone in the house.

The twist in the story prompted police to dispatch a Swat team to the house. The officers detained the couple and placed them in handcuffs in front of the house before the truth behind the call was uncovered.

Ellis was charged with a number of felony counts, including computer access and fraud, falsely reporting a crime, and assault with a weapon by proxy. He was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $14,765.

The authorities suspect that Ellis was behind similar incidents in Arizona, Washington and Pennsylvania.