A recently released indictment accuses him of distributing large quantities of various drugs and conspiring to murder five people on behalf of Silk Road founder and administrator Ross Ulbricht. According to court documents, James Ellingson, 47, of Vancouver, Canada, sold large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana along Silk Road under the names “MarijuanaIsMyMuse” and “Lucydrop” from at least November 2011 to September 2013. Under the name (redanwhite), Ellingson said he would hire killers for Ulbricht.
According to the three-count indictment, the IsMyMuse marijuana seller account was created in November 2011. Data obtained from Silk Road’s servers showed that the vendor account sold more than four kilograms of methamphetamine; more than 100 grams of heroin; more than two kilograms of cocaine; approximately one and a half grams of LSD; approximately 7 kilograms of MDMA; and more than 19 kilograms of marijuana. Blockchain analysis shows that the bitcoins seized from marijuana supplier IsMyMuse ended up in Bitstamp and Cavirtex accounts registered to Ellingson. Investigators executed a search warrant on the emails associated with the accounts and found that Ellingson had used it to store the MarijuanaIsMyMuse username and password. They also recovered emails with the corresponding weights, names and prices of drugs. The Lucydrop account was created in April 2012 and reportedly sold $285,000 worth of drugs in March 2013.
In March 2013, a user contacted Lucydrop under the alias “FriendlyChemist.” FriendlyChemist wanted Lucydrop and Ulbricht to honor their agreement and pay him to supply LucyDrop with drugs to sell on SilkRoad.
A few days later, FriendlyChemist contacted Ulbricht and threatened to reveal the identities of some Silkroad sellers and buyers if he was not paid. In late March 2013, Redandwhite contacted Ulbricht and stated that he was a FriendlyChemist supplier and that FriendlyChemist owed him money. Ulbricht and Redwhite began discussing a murder-for-hire plan against FriendlyChemist. Ulbricht sent $150,000 worth of red and white bitcoins as payment for killing FriendlyChemist. In early April 2013, White-Red informed Ulbricht FriendlyChemist that he had been murdered and sent a photo as proof of the murder. Later that month, Redandwaite claimed to have directed the murder of four people associated with FriendlyChemist after receiving $500,000 for Ulbricht’s murders.
In September 2013, Ulbricht borrowed more than $500,000 in bitcoins from the Red and White. Ulbricht told the Red and White that he would send someone to collect the loan’s collateral and asked for a photo of himself to confirm his identity. The photo was taken from Ulbricht’s laptop, and it shows Ellingson standing in front of the building. The identity was confirmed.
