Empire Market Co-Founder Gets 40-Year US Prison Term Over Crypto-Fueled Drug Trafficking

A co-founder of Empire Market, a dark-web marketplace that allowed illegal goods including drugs and personal data to be traded using only cryptocurrencies, has been sentenced in the US to 40 years in prison. He was also fined $5 million, and forfeiture proceedings are moving forward for criminal proceeds including Bitcoin.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said on Oct. 7 that a federal court in Chicago sentenced Rahim Hamilton, an Empire Market co-founder, on Oct. 5 to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine. Hamilton pleaded guilty in January to a drug-conspiracy charge.

Hamilton and fellow co-founder Thomas Pavey operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020. More than 4 million transactions were conducted on the platform during that period, with total sales exceeding $430 million. Drug sales alone came to about $375 million.

The platform was used to sell fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. Stolen account credentials and personal information were also sold, along with counterfeit currency and hacking tools.

The operators required all transactions to be carried out in cryptocurrency to evade law enforcement. They encouraged users to use mixing services and encrypted communications to hide transaction trails. The platform also offered a feature that allowed buyers to rate sellers on how well they packaged and concealed drugs.

Hamilton agreed to forfeit about 1,230 Bitcoin, 24.4 Ether and three properties in Virginia acquired with criminal proceeds. Authorities in the case seized cryptocurrency, cash and precious metals worth about $75 million at the time of seizure.

Pavey is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. He pleaded guilty last year to a drug-conspiracy charge and agreed to forfeit about 1,584 Bitcoin, gold bars, three vehicles and two properties in Florida.