Co-founder of dark web marketplace Empire Market sentenced to 40 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $101 million in BTC.

BlockBeats news, October 9: Raheim Hamilton, co-founder of the darknet trading platform Empire Market, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and has agreed to forfeit 1,230 BTC, valued at approximately $101 million. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the 30-year-old Virginia man also agreed to forfeit 24.4 ETH (about $60,000) and three properties. A federal judge in Chicago also imposed a $5 million fine on him.

Prosecutors said Hamilton and his accomplice, Thomas Pavey, operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020, facilitating more than 4 million transactions worth over $430 million, including nearly $375 million in drug sales. The two also sold stolen account credentials, personal data, counterfeit currency, and hacking tools, and required customers to use cryptocurrency, encouraging the use of mixing services to conceal the flow of funds.

Pavey pleaded guilty last year to federal drug conspiracy charges and forfeited 1,584 BTC, as well as rights related to gold, three vehicles, and two properties. He is expected to be sentenced later this month.