Rogue DEA Agent May Face 7 Years in Jail for Silk Road Extortion
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An agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday for his involvement in massive illicit financial transactions, extortion and obstruction of justice after he pleaded guilt for his crimes in connection to the Silk Road controversy last summer.
Agent Carl Force IV was part of a task force that probed anomalies in Silk Road, the online black market and the first modern-day darknet market, which was very popular for selling illegal drugs.
Force went rogue in the midst of the United States government’s investigation of the underground online drugs bazaar. Prosecutors have asked the federal court to hand Force a jail term of seven years and three months, including three years of supervised parole.
As part of the Dark Web, Silk Road functioned as a Tor hidden service, such that online users were able to browse it anonymously and securely without being detected.
Based on court papers, the defense seeks for a sentence below statutory rulings on the grounds that Force succumbed to psychological health issues in the period in which he went rogue – a basis prosecutors disputed in their court filing.
Force’s legal counsels have filed a motion to have his sentence reduced under seal on October 9, the same day the US government filed its sentencing memorandum.
In his letter, acting lawyer Brian Stretch disclosed that Force “abused public trust and tarnished the name of law enforcement.”
Stretch further noted that Force does not deserve leniency, stressing that “In providing the defendant with a gun and a badge, the government entrusted him to act in a manner consistent with standards becoming a sworn law enforcement officer… conduct like Force’s undermines public confidence in law enforcement and threatens the credibility of the entire criminal justice system.”
Meanwhile, former US Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges, who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in August, is set to face sentencing on December 7.
Force’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 19 at the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Judge Richard Seeborg will presided the hearing.
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