The agent who pleaded guilty in July to stealing $700,000 worth of bitcoin has been jailed for his crimes.
As part of the special DEA task force, Carl M. Force was also the lead undercover agent in the investigation, and frequently in communication with Ulbricht between 2012 and 2014 as the DEA sought to bring the illegal Silk Road marketplace down.
Carl M. Force was originally sent undercover in an attempt to flush out Silk Road founder, the “Dread Pirate Roberts,” -Ross Ulbricht to give him his real name. The now defunct Silk Road, setup in 2010, was a hidden online marketplace that is widely believed to have been the middle man for over $180 million worth of drug deals before it was shut down.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is digital currency that is not controlled by any government, and not limited by international rules on finance. Users can buy and sell goods using in a way that allows them to remain anonymous, using unique codes. This makes Bitcoin a popular choice for funding criminal activity.Silk Road wasn’t however just an emporium for the sales of drugs. It was also allegedly a market place where people could buy and sell weapons, and also hire hitmen
Bitcoin Payments
Carl Force however found the temptation of the supposedly untraceable bitcoin digital currency too much, and while gaining the trust of Ulbricht, he began to deceive the DEA that he worked for as well. His official codename he used was ‘Nob,’ but Force also began using the nom de guerre, ‘French Maid,’ which he used to be paid in bitcoin, and that he assumed would not arouse suspicion of his colleagues in the DEA.
20th Century Fox
Most sensible people would think that after having sold $700,000 from part of an ongoing investigation that keeping a low profile would be the most sensible option. Force however, also somehow managed to convince 20th Century Fox to pay him $240,000 as a consultant on the film studio’s Silk Road investigation adaptation. The consultancy role was garnered without the DEA’s permission.
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