A Virginia man who co-created and operated ‘Empire Market’—a dark web marketplace that enabled users to buy and sell illegal goods and services anonymously—has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.

Raheim Hamilton co-owned and operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020. During that time, the online market facilitated more than four million transactions between vendors and buyers valued at over $430 million.  

Mr Hamilton, 30, of Suffolk, Va., pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court in Chicago to a drug conspiracy charge. He agreed to forfeit certain illicit proceeds, including, among other things, approximately 1,230 bitcoin and 24.4 Ether, as well as three properties in Virginia.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger sentenced Mr Hamilton to 40 years in federal prison and fined him $5 million.

The illegal products and services available on the site included controlled substances, compromised or stolen account credentials, stolen personally identifying information, counterfeit currency, and computer-hacking tools.  
Sales of controlled substances were the most prevalent activity, with net drug sales totalling nearly $375 million over the life of the site.  

The controlled substances sold on the market included at least 13,314.23 grams of fentanyl, 446,683.15 grams of cocaine, 71,992.33 grams of methamphetamine, and 103,396.21 grams of heroin.

Mr Hamilton and co-creator Thomas Pavey designed Empire Market to help users avoid detection by law enforcement and launder money from illicit transactions.  

Mr Hamilton and Pavey established that all transactions on the site must be conducted using only cryptocurrency. They encouraged users to use tumbling and mixing services to conceal cryptocurrency transactions and utilise encryption while communicating on the site.  

They also allowed users to rate vendors based on how well the vendors concealed the drugs they shipped.