Empire Market Co-Creator Sentenced to 40 Years, Forfeits 1,230 BTC

A federal court in Chicago sentenced Empire Market co-creator Raheim Hamilton to 40 years in prison and ordered him to forfeit about 1,230 Bitcoin (BTC) valued at roughly $100 million.

Hamilton, 30, also received a $5 million fine and agreed to surrender 24.4 Ether (ETH) and three Virginia properties. Hamilton co-ran the dark-web marketplace with Thomas Pavey.

Empire Market operated from 2018 to 2020 and processed more than four million transactions worth over $430 million. Nearly $375 million came from drug sales, while the marketplace also handled stolen account credentials, personal information, counterfeit currency and hacking tools.

The platform required cryptocurrency for transactions and encouraged users to use mixing services to obscure the movement of funds. Pavey previously agreed to forfeit about 1,584 BTC, gold bars, three vehicles and two Florida properties. He is expected to be sentenced later in October.

The case adds to a series of U.S. prosecutions targeting dark-web marketplaces and the cryptocurrency flows connected to them.