The ghosts of Silk Road aren’t laid to rest yet. One of the federal agents who was part of the Silk Road investigation was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after he was found guilty of stealing bitcoins during the course of investigation.
Carl Force, the former United States Drug Enforcement Administration Agent was part of the joint investigating team that was responsible for apprehending Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road and confiscating millions of dollars’ worth in bitcoins. While being part of the team Carl Force had illegally obtained close to 450,000 USD worth in bitcoins from Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road by various means.
READ MORE: Fed No. 2 Carl Force to Plead Guilty in the Silk Road Case
Earlier in August 2013, Ulbricht had convinced Ross to offer him 50,000 USD in bitcoin in order to receive information about the progress of federal investigation. He had failed to mention the receipt of bitcoins from Ross in his report to the DEA. In other instance, he received about 98,000 USD in bitcoin for sharing information about investigation with Ross and never reported the exchange. He had dealt with Ross using two different aliases – Nob and French Maid in both the instances respectively. He had also kept another 297,000 USD worth bitcoins found in a confiscated customer wallet to himself.
Carl Force had earlier stuck a deal with the prosecutors and admitted to the charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice in front of the judge at the San Francisco federal court few months ago. The sentence was awarded by US District Judge Richard Seeborg. While awarding the 78 month jail sentence, Judge Richard Seeborg commented that the betrayal of Carl Force, the accused was breathtaking. The prosecutors had originally requested for an 87 month prison sentence, while Carl Force’s defense asked for a much lesser 4 year (48 month) sentence stating that their client has been facing mental health issues.
Another United States Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges is also accused of stealing bitcoins during the investigation and even he has reached a plea agreement with the prosecutors.