A 30-year-old co-founder of a major dark web drug marketplace has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit 1,230 Bitcoin, worth approximately $100 million at current prices.
Raheim Hamilton was convicted for operating Empire Market, which ran from 2018 to 2020 on the dark web. The marketplace processed more than four million transactions totaling over $430 million, according to the US Justice Department. Nearly $375 million of that came from drug sales, including at least 13 kilograms of fentanyl.
US District Judge Steven C. Seeger handed down the sentence on Monday, also imposing a $5 million fine and ordering forfeiture of 24.4 Ethereum and three Virginia properties.
Co-Founder's Separate Forfeitures
Empire Market's co-creator, Thomas Pavey, 41, agreed earlier to forfeit approximately 1,584 Bitcoin along with gold bars, three cars, and two Florida properties. He faces sentencing later this month. Combined, the two founders' Bitcoin holdings total 2,814 BTC, valued at roughly $234 million at Bitcoin's current price of $83,045.
Where Seized Assets Will Go
A March 2025 executive order directs Bitcoin forfeited in criminal or civil cases into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Coins placed in the reserve cannot be sold, though exceptions exist for returning funds to identifiable crime victims. The Department of Justice did not specify which category Hamilton's coins will fall into.
Congress is also considering similar legislation. In September, a House committee voted 28-21 to advance a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill that would hold forfeited Bitcoin for at least 20 years.
