Empire Market suspects potentially face life in prison for $430 million in dark web sales

Two of the suspected operators behind a prominent dark web marketplace are facing life sentences for their work in allegedly facilitating more than $430 million in transactions for illicit goods. 

The Department of Justice charged 38-year-old Thomas Pavey and 28-year-old Raheim Hamilton with owning and operating Empire Market from 2018 to 2020 and previously conducting sales of counterfeit U.S. currency on now-defunct criminal market AlphaBay. 

The DOJ accused the pair of helping cybercriminals conduct nearly four million transactions through Empire Market — including sales involving heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, counterfeit currency, stolen credit card information and more. 

Pavey and Hamilton are in custody, awaiting arraignment in a Chicago federal court, the DOJ said. They face dozens of charges ranging from drug trafficking and computer fraud to counterfeiting and money laundering. Combined, the charges for each can result in a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. 

Pavey is from Ormond Beach, Florida and Hamilton is from Suffolk, Virginia. According to the indictment, the two first began working together on schemes to sell counterfeit U.S. currency on AlphaBay. 

AlphaBay was shut down in a takedown coordinated by law enforcement across the globe in July 2017. One of the platform’s administrators — Alexandre Cazes — was arrested in Thailand and took his own life in jail one week after he was detained. 

When that platform was shut down in 2017, Hamilton and Pavey created and began running Empire Market on February 1, 2018, prosecutors said. 

Empire Market was organized under categories like “Fraud,” “Drugs & Chemicals,” “Counterfeit Items,” and “Software & Malware.” The indictment says that in at least one instance, counterfeit U.S. currency was sold to a law enforcement agent directly on Empire Market.

Transactions were conducted using cryptocurrency and buyers could rate sellers on the site. The two were administrators on the platform until August 22, 2020. 

The Justice Department noted that it seized $75 million worth of cryptocurrency over the course of their investigation into the platform and obtained cash as well as precious metals. The DOJ did not respond to requests for comment about whether the cash and metals obtained were done through raids on homes owned by Hamilton or Pavey. 

The case resembles dozens of other incidents where prolific users of one cybercrime marketplace create their own platform after law enforcement takedowns. Other AlphaBay vendors went on to build marketplaces or tools like Skynet Market and Helix cryptocurrency mixer. 

BreachForums — one of the most popular cybercriminal forums currently operating — is another platform that has faced its own issues in recent weeks after attempts to revive it following law enforcement action were stymied by staff disappearances and other problems.