Empire Market co-creator sentenced to 40 years and forfeits 1,230 bitcoin
Key Takeaways
- •Raheim Hamilton, co-creator of the dark web marketplace Empire Market, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and fined $5 million by a federal judge in Chicago.
- •Hamilton agreed to forfeit 1,230 bitcoin valued at roughly $101 million, along with 24.4 ether worth about $60,000 and three properties.
- •Empire Market, operated by Hamilton and Thomas Pavey from 2018 to 2020, facilitated more than 4 million drug transactions valued at over $430 million, with drug sales accounting for nearly $375 million.
- •Thomas Pavey, 41, pleaded guilty last year to a federal drug conspiracy charge, forfeited 1,584 bitcoin plus gold bars, three vehicles and two Florida properties, and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
- •The combined forfeiture agreements cover 2,814 bitcoin, and the case follows other recent U.S. actions against darknet operators, including a 30-year prison sentence for the alleged operator of Incognito Market in February.
Raheim Hamilton, a co-creator of the dark web drug marketplace Empire Market, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and agreed to forfeit 1,230 bitcoin valued at about $101 million.
Hamilton, 30, of Suffolk, Virginia, also agreed to forfeit 24.4 ether worth approximately $60,000 and three properties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. A federal judge in Chicago sentenced him on Monday and imposed a $5 million fine.
Prosecutors said Hamilton and his partner, Thomas Pavey, operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020. The platform facilitated more than 4 million drug transactions valued at more than $430 million, with drug sales accounting for nearly $375 million of the site’s total activity. The sentencing underscores that a darknet market going offline does not end the legal jeopardy for the people behind it, as U.S. authorities have continued to pursue operators and their holdings years after a platform ceases operations.
The pair also sold stolen account credentials, personal data, counterfeit currency and hacking tools, prosecutors said. Empire Market required customers to use cryptocurrency and encouraged them to use mixing services to obscure the movement of funds, according to the Justice Department.
Pavey, 41, of Ormond Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty last year to a federal drug conspiracy charge and admitted his role in creating and operating Empire Market. He forfeited 1,584 bitcoin and other assets ahead of his sentencing, including his rights to two boxes containing 25-ounce gold bars, three automobiles and two properties in Florida. Taken together, the two agreements cover 2,814 bitcoin along with ether, gold, vehicles and multiple properties. Pavey is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
The forfeiture agreements follow other major U.S. cases involving darknet marketplaces and cryptocurrency. Ruis-Sian Lin, the alleged operator of the dark web narcotics marketplace Incognito Market, was sentenced to 30 years in U.S. federal prison in February. In January, the U.S. government seized $400 million worth of cryptocurrency, real estate and cash linked to Helix, a once-popular darknet bitcoin mixing service.
According to the Department of Justice, Helix was used by drug traffickers and other criminals to launder at least 354,468 bitcoin, which it valued at $29 billion at the time of the report.
