A “Sprawling Black-Market Bazaar”

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Ross William Ulbricht is the alleged mastermind of Silk Road. “Silk Road,” is the online marketplace that prosecutors called a “sprawling black-market bazaar,” according to reports by Bloomberg News.

The Silk road site was used by several thousand drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to “distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other illicit goods during it’s more than two and a half years in operation.” Drugs are readily available on the site.

  

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In Manhattan, Andrew Michael Jones, 24, Gary Davis of Ireland and Peter Phillip Nash, 40, who went by the aliases “Batman73” and “Anonymousasshit” were charged in a federal indictment for helping Ross William Ulbricht. They were accused of conspiring to traffic drugs, hack computers and launder money. The men were employed by San Francisco-based owner, Ross William Ulbricht for monitoring user activity on the website, responding to customer inquiries and resolving disputes between buyers and sellers.

Ross William Ulbricht, who was allegedly known online as “Dread Pirate Roberts,” was arrested in October and charged with running Silk Road. Anonymous users paid digital currency for illegal drugs, malicious software designed for computer hackers and other illegal products. According to the government, Ulbricht paid his site administrators and moderators salaries ranging from $50,000 to $75,000 a year. Prosecutors in New York said that he has tried to arrange the murder of six people to protect his business. Ross William Ulbricht is being held without bail.

The three men are charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in US federal prison. One was arrested in Ireland and the other was arrested in Australia. The US attorney for the southern district of New York, Preet Bharara, praised the Australian Federal Police according to The Guardian, with their help with the investigation. They are also charged with narcotics conspiracy and conspiracy to commit computer hacking.

Image Credit: www.money.cnn.com