Silk Road employee takes plea deal; pleads guilty to drug charge

A plea deal has been recently been offered to a self-proclaimed member of the infamous Silk Road illegal drug website. Apparently, Maryland police caught him using an online sting operation in an effort to shut down the site and arrest those involved. Under the terms of his plea deal, he has pleaded guilty to one drug charge.

The 47-year-old man was apparently an administrator of Silk Road who had access to transactions and messages from the site. Supposedly, the police were able to arrest him after giving his address to an undercover officer posing as a seller on the website. He was arrested in another state after allegedly purchasing a kilogram of cocaine from the site, and he was brought to Maryland for his criminal trial.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, the administrator only had to plead guilty to one drug charge. He also gave police details of what his job entailed at the site and how he was able to give the site so much online security. The report does not say whether the administrator worked with police to capture other Silk Road members. Even with the plea deal, he could still face several years in prison.

Although, given the popularity and countrywide access Silk Road had, it appears obvious that the administrator greatly benefited from his plea deal. However, plea agreements are not offered in every case. Those facing a drug charge in Maryland would benefit from exploring all of their legal options through our laws in order to make the best decision for his or her case.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, Employee of Silk Road site pleads guilty in Maryland, Ian Duncan, Nov. 7, 2013