Feds get second guilty plea in takedown of dark web Empire Market

Both men charged with co-creating the dark web marketplace Empire Market have now pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges.

Raheim Hamilton, 30, of Suffolk, Virginia, entered his guilty plea in a Chicago federal court this week, closing the book on one of the major cybercrime cases of the early 2020s. Prosecutors said the market was responsible for $430 million in transactions involving illicit goods such as heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, counterfeit currency and stolen credit card information.

Hamilton ran the marketplace from 2018 to 2020 with Thomas Pavey, 40, of Ormond Beach, Florida, prosecutors said. They were both charged in 2024 with a variety of offenses that could have led to life sentences in prison. Pavey pleaded guilty in January 2025 to similar drug charges. They each face a maximum 10-year sentence.

“Hamilton admitted in a plea agreement that he and Pavey designed Empire Market to help its users avoid detection by law enforcement and to assist users with laundering money from the illicit transactions,” prosecutors said.

Hamilton will be sentenced in June. A sentencing date has not been set for Pavey.

The market was one of the largest of its kind, with more than 1.6 million unique registered users and 4 million separate transactions, prosecutors said, with drug sales being the most prevalent activity.

Empire Market suddenly disappeared in the summer of 2020, with operators stealing an estimated $30 million in bitcoin from users.

As part of his plea deal, Hamilton agreed to forfeit approximately 1,230 bitcoin (worth about $108 million) and 24.4 Ether coins (about $71,000), as well as three properties in Virginia. Previously Pavey agreed to forfeit approximately 1,584 bitcoin (about $139 million), two boxes containing 25-ounce gold bars, three automobiles and two properties in Florida, prosecutors said.

Empire Market arose after the takedown of the notorious AlphaBay market in 2017, with Hamilton (aka  “Sydney” and “ZeroAngel”) and Pavey (aka “Dopenugget”) modeling their site after it. In announcing charges against Hamilton and Pavey in 2024, prosecutors said they had sold counterfeit U.S. currency on AlphaBay. 

Empire Market was organized under categories like “Fraud,” “Drugs & Chemicals,” “Counterfeit Items,” and “Software & Malware.” 

U.S. government and international law enforcement actions against cybercrime forums have continued in earnest since the AlphaBay takedown. 

The FBI apparently seized another cybercriminal site, RAMP, this week. International operations also recently targeted marketplaces such as BreachForums, BidenCash and Archetyp.