{"id":13334,"date":"2015-07-02T09:07:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T16:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=13334"},"modified":"2015-07-02T09:07:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T16:07:00","slug":"ex-dea-agent-while-working-undercover-illegal-got-digital-currency-worth-more-than-700000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=13334","title":{"rendered":"Ex-DEA Agent While Working Undercover Illegal Got Digital Currency Worth More Than $700,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Ex-DEA<\/a>
Carl M. Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former DEA agent admitted to committing extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice while working undercover investigating Silk Road, officials announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Silk Road is an online market where people could purchase illegal drugs and other contraband, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Carl M. Force<\/strong>, 46, of Baltimore, Maryland, plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg.<\/p>\n

Force is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile investigating the Silk Road, former DEA Agent Carl Force crossed the line from enforcing the law to breaking it,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adding,<\/strong> \u201cSeduced by the perceived anonymity of virtual currency and the dark web, Force used invented online personas and encrypted messaging to fraudulently obtain bitcoin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government and investigative targets alike.\u00a0 This guilty plea should send a strong message: neither the supposed anonymity of the dark web nor the use of virtual currency nor the misuse of a law enforcement badge will serve as a shield from the reach of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Force was a Special Agent with the DEA for 15 years.<\/p>\n

\"DEA<\/a>Between 2012 and 2014, officials said he was assigned to the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force, a multi-agency group<\/strong> investigating illegal activity on the Silk Road.\u00a0 Force was the lead undercover agent in communication with Ross Ulbricht, aka \u201cDread Pirate Roberts<\/strong>,\u201d who ran the Silk Road.<\/p>\n

As part of the plea agreement, Force admitted that while working undercover as a DEA agent as “Nob,” in the summer of 2013, Forced offered to sell Ulbricht fake drivers’ licenses and “inside” law enforcement information about Silk Road investigation.<\/p>\n

Force, using the name Nob, claimed to have access through a corrupt government employee, officials stated.\u00a0He admitted that he attempted to conceal his communications with Ulbricht about the payments by directing Ulbricht to use encrypted messaging.<\/p>\n

Although Force understood these payments, which were made in bitcoin, to be government property, as they constituted evidence of a crime, he admitted that he falsified official reports and stole the funds, depositing the bitcoin into his own personal account and then converting them into dollars.<\/p>\n

Force admitted that, at the time, the value of the bitcoin he received from Ulbricht was in excess of approximately $100,000, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

Force also admitted that he was involved in a scheme that he created to fraudulently obtain additional funds from Ulbricht through another online persona, \u201cFrench Maid,\u201d of which his Task Force colleagues were not aware.<\/p>\n

Force admitted that, as French Maid, he solicited and received bitcoin payments from Ulbricht worth approximately $100,000 in exchange for information concerning the government\u2019s investigation into the Silk Road.<\/p>\n

In connection with his guilty plea, Force also admitted that, in late 2013, in his personal capacity, he invested $110,000 worth of bitcoin in CoinMKT, a digital currency exchange company, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Although he did not receive permission from the DEA to do so, he served as CoinMKT\u2019s Chief Compliance Officer.<\/p>\n

In this role, in February 2014, Force was alerted by CoinMKT to what the company initially believed to be suspicious activity in a particular account.<\/p>\n

Force admitted that he directed CoinMKT to freeze $337,000 in cash and digital currency from the account and he subsequently transferred the approximately $300,000 of digital currency funds into a personal account that he controlled.<\/p>\n

Force also admitted to entering into a $240,000 contract with 20th Century Fox Film Studios related to a film concerning the government\u2019s investigation into the Silk Road.<\/p>\n

Force admitted that he did not secure the necessary approvals from the DEA to do so.<\/p>\n

According to his plea agreement, Force admitted that he had obstructed justice both by soliciting and accepting bitcoin from Ulricht and by lying to federal prosecutors and agents who were investigating potential misconduct by Force and others.<\/p>\n

The investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n

Currently, officials said Force is one of two federal agents charged with crimes in connection to their roles in investigating the Silk Road.<\/p>\n

\"Shaun<\/a>
Shaun W. Bridges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shaun W. Bridges<\/strong>, 32, of Laurel, Maryland, a former Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service, is charged in a two-count information with money laundering and obstruction of justice for getting more than $800,000 in digital currency during the Silk Road investigation.<\/p>\n

The charges contained in an information are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, D.C. A former DEA agent admitted to committing extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice while working undercover investigating Silk Road, officials announced Wednesday. 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