Silk Road darknet market continues to make headlines despite its apparent closure in 2013 by the FBI, having been in operation for two years.
Ross Ulbricht was the creator of Silk Road while Roger Thomas Clerk was the senior adviser to the market. The adviser referred to as “a real mentor” by Ulbricht has this week pleaded guilty in a Manhattan Federal Court.
The US Department of Justice, in its press release on January 30th, stated that Clark was the main character behind the development and control of Silk Road in every aspect. He was identified as “Plural of Mongoose” and “Variety Jones” on the social platforms.
Clerk was responsible for gathering information on the authorities’ investigation of Silk Road and at some point advised Ulbricht to formulate a cover story alleging that he had sold the website.
Among the cases Clerk is being tried for is his involvement in the coming up with the idea and participating in the attempted murder-for-hire of a Silk Road employee who was accused of having stolen from the enterprise $350,000 worth of Bitcoin.
Clerks Prosecution and the end of Silk Road
Silk Road may have seen the curtains drawn on it; especially with the jailing of the creator and now the awaited prosecution of the lead controller.
The infamous Silk Road provided a platform for illegal trade including the sale and purchase of illicit drugs, Bitcoin being used as the mode of transaction. The closure of this site was a big boost to the authorities in the fight against anonymous illegal activities happening in dark web.
This, however, led to an increase in the number of similar sites with improved technology working smart in the face of heightened law enforcement activity.
An increasing number of individuals are engaging in the illicit drug trade and other dark web activities and when one site closes a new one is already in the offering. The darknet has proved its resilience as seen in the doubling of cryptocurrency in-flow in the past year, for the first time in 4years.
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