A former agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was sentenced to over six years of prison time this week after he stole bitcoin in the Silk Road raid, Reuters reported.
The DEA brought down Silk Road, an underground website that hosted a massive black market, and seized millions of dollars worth of bitcoin in late 2013.
The former DEA agent, Carl Force, was involved in the raid and was charged with stealing bitcoin along with former Secret Service agent, Shaun Bridges. Force admitted to charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Bridges, separately, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
During the investigation, Force posed as an online drug dealer named “Nob,” sweet-talking Silk Road founder Ross Ulricht into paying him $50,000 in bitcoin by pretending to have knowledge of the raid, the report said. Force then falsely told the DEA that he received no payment after the discussion. Force went on and used another pseudonym, “French Maid,” on the site, offering information to Ulricht on the investigation in exchange for another $98,000 worth of bitcoin, Reuters reported.
Force apologized and received 78 months in prison, less than the 87 months sought by prosecutors. All bitcoin that were seized in the Silk Road raid were eventually put up for public auctions.
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