The FBI announced today through a press release that they arrested Roger Thomas Clark, an alleged architect of bitcoin-accepting darknet market Silk Road. From their statement:
CLARK, who went by the online nicknames “Variety Jones,” “VJ,” “Cimon,” and “Plural of Mongoose,” was described by Ulbricht as a trusted “mentor,” who regularly advised him on the management of the Silk Road enterprise. Among other things, CLARK counseled Ulbricht on the improvement and expansion of Silk Road’s technical infrastructure, including helping Ulbricht hire and manage a computer programmer to assist with these projects. CLARK also helped Ulbricht develop and enforce the rules governing how Silk Road vendors and users could do business on the site...CLARK further advised Ulbricht on how to conceal his involvement in, and hide his profits from, the operation of Silk Road, including helping Ulbricht devise cover stories to tell others and make plans to obtain foreign citizenship and offshore bank accounts. Finally, CLARK also advised Ulbricht on tactics to thwart efforts by law enforcement to investigate Silk Road. In that vein, CLARK repeatedly advocated the use of intimidation and violence to keep members of the Silk Road support staff from cooperating with law enforcement.
...charged with one count of narcotics conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence imposed on the defendant will be determined by the Court.
Clark is a 54-year-old Canadian man living in Thailand who is being arrested by the Americans for supposed crimes done years ago. It's crazy just how much power the US has to be able to achieve that.
Recall that earlier in the year Variety Jones (Roger Thomas Clark) said that a corrupt FBI agent was hunting and threatening him -- where he even said on a Cannabis forum that he may be turning himself in.
He also was the original Dread Pirate Roberts, which Ross Ulbricht ended up inheriting. Now the FBI has ordered the Thai authorities to put him under arrest. So it could be that he's made some kind of deal between then and now to cooperate and make it easier for him. Or maybe he just wasn't laying low enough and they eventually caught up with him.
In any event, the arrest was on December 3rd, and he's in Thailand still awaiting extradition. Once he's stateside and the court proceedings begin we'll figure out more about what's going on.
For now, it looks like the feds are wrapping up their Silk Road case.
Recall that earlier in the year Variety Jones (Roger Thomas Clark) said that a corrupt FBI agent was hunting and threatening him -- where he even said on a Cannabis forum that he may be turning himself in.
He also was the original Dread Pirate Roberts, which Ross Ulbricht ended up inheriting. Now the FBI has ordered the Thai authorities to put him under arrest. So it could be that he's made some kind of deal between then and now to cooperate and make it easier for him. Or maybe he just wasn't laying low enough and they eventually caught up with him.
In any event, the arrest was on December 3rd, and he's in Thailand still awaiting extradition. Once he's stateside and the court proceedings begin we'll figure out more about what's going on.
For now, it looks like the feds are wrapping up their Silk Road case.
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