AURORA | A 26-year-old Aurora man has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison for serving as a moderator on a global dark web marketplace that peddled guns, drugs and stolen identities.
A U.S. District Court Judge in California on Tuesday sentenced Bryan Herrell to 11 years in prison for his role in operating AlphaBay, a now shuttered bazaar of vice operated on the Tor network, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Herrell, who used the online monikers Penissmith and Botah, kept tabs on internal quarrels on the site, refereeing arguments between sellers and buyers and keeping an eye out for scams, federal officials said in a news release. The retail space, launched one year after the FBI shut down the similarly operated Silk Road network, was previously the most expansive online network for drug sales.
“Operating behind the veil of the dark net may seem to offer shelter from criminal investigations, but people should think twice before ordering or selling drugs online—you will be caught,” the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, where Herrell was prosecuted, said in a statement. “This office will continue using all means available to pursue dark net-based crimes, particularly those involving fentanyl, opioids, and other dangerous drugs.”
The site required users to use various cryptocurrencies for payment, including Monero, Ethereum and Bitcoin, the latter of which being how Herrell received compensation, according to court documents. AlphaBay operators also provided “tumbling” and “mixing” services to obfuscate the trail of the digital monies.
Herrell’s sentencing comes more than three years after a grand jury in California indicted the man believed to be the founder of AlphaBay, Alexandre Cazes. A citizen of both Canada and Antigua and Barbuda, federal authorities and the Royal Thai Police arrested Cazes at his home in Bangkok four days after U.S. jurors recommended their charges. Agents with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration found an open laptop in Cazes’ Thai residence that provided crucial passwords to further investigate AlphaBay. Canadian authorities eventually seized the network’s servers in Quebec.
Cazes was found dead in a Thai jail cell less than two weeks after he was arrested and hours before he was slated to speak with U.S. prosecutors about extradition proceedings, according to international reporting from the time.
The AlphaBay investigation was based and prosecuted out of the Eastern District of California after authorities discovered the network had substantial ties to Fresno and Merced Counties, according to the indictment filed against Cazes.
FBI officials in Sacramento and Philadelphia investigated Herrell’s case, and U.S. attorneys in Denver provided assistance.
Federal officials are continuing to investigate AlphaBay’s former administrators.