French Dark-Web Drug Dealer Sentenced to 20 Years in US Prison

Oct 11, 2018

A dark web drugs
kingpin who was arrested last year when he arrived in the
United States to compete in the World Beard and Mustache
Championships has now been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola sentenced
36-year-old French national Gal Vallerius, aka “OxyMonster,” after
pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to
distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money in
June this year.

According to a press release published by the U.S.
Department of Justice, Vallerius was an administrator, senior
moderator and vendor on Dream Market—one of the largest dark
web marketplaces for illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

Launched in November 2013, Dream
Market ^[3] began operating on the
TOR “dark web” network and was designed to make it easier for
people to anonymously buy and sell illegal items and services in
exchange for Bitcoin and other peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies.

Vallerius initially started as a simple vendor of OxyCodone and
Ritalin in Dream Market, but later he was employed by the dark web ^[4] drug marketplace
founders as a senior moderator and website administrator between
May 2015 and August 2017.

Vallerius was arrested by U.S. authorities on August 31, 2017,
upon landing at Atlanta International Airport from his base in
France to attend a worldwide beard competition in Austin,
Texas.

After his arrest, US authorities found a laptop which confirmed
Vallerius’ login credentials for Dream Market and uncovered roughly
$500,000 worth of bitcoins and a PGP encryption key entitled
OxyMonster, verifying his identity on the dark web
marketplace.

Vallerius also ordered to forfeit more than 121 units of bitcoin
cash and nearly 100 bitcoins (totals more than $700,000) after
pleading guilty before Judge Scola on Tuesday.

The 20-year prison sentence Vallerius received is half the
maximum amount of jail time a judge could have handed him.
Vallerius is also cooperating with U.S. authorities, which could
further be reduced his jail period.

Vallerius is the second dark web marketplace admin to face a
prison sentence in the U.S. this month.

Last week, Irish man Gary Davis aka Libertas, a former Silk
Road ^[5] site administrators and
forum moderators pleaded guilty to
drug trafficking ^[6]
charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

^[1]^[2]

References

^{^}
dark web drugs kingpin
(thehackernews.com)
^{^}
press release
(www.justice.gov)
^{^}
Dream Market
(thehackernews.com)
^{^}
dark web
(thehackernews.com)
^{^}
Silk Road
(thehackernews.com)
^{^}
pleaded guilty to drug trafficking
(thehackernews.com)

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French Dark-Web Drug Dealer Sentenced to 20 Years in US Prison

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