Empire Market Co-Creator Gets 40 Years and Forfeits 1,230 Bitcoin

A co-creator of Empire Market, once one of the biggest dark web drug bazaars, is heading to prison for four decades — and Washington is keeping his Bitcoin.

Raheim Hamilton, 30, of Suffolk, Virginia, was sentenced in Chicago by Judge Steven Seeger to 40 years in federal prison and fined $5 million. He pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge earlier this year. His plea deal hands over roughly 1,230 bitcoin — about $101 million — plus 24.4 ether and three properties in Virginia.

Four million deals, all paid in crypto

Between 2018 and 2020, Empire Market handled more than four million transactions worth over $430 million. Drug sales made up nearly $375 million of that total, prosecutors said. The house rules were strict: every payment had to be made in cryptocurrency, and users were nudged toward tumbling and mixing services to bury the trail. Narcotics were not the only listing — stolen account credentials, personal data, counterfeit currency and hacking tools were on sale too.

His partner is still waiting

Hamilton's co-creator, Thomas Pavey, 41, pleaded guilty last year and is due to be sentenced this month. He agreed to give up about 1,584 BTC, two boxes of 25-ounce gold bars, three cars and two Florida properties. Empire Market itself vanished in August 2020 in what users believed was a $30 million exit scam. The scale tracks a pattern: the operator of Incognito Market drew 30 years in February over a platform that moved more than $105 million in narcotics sales.

What this means for crypto holders

A public ledger never forgets, and this forfeiture list shows how wide the net gets — bitcoin, ether, gold bars, cars and property folded into one judgment. Self-custody keeps your coins away from a failed exchange or a frozen account. It will not keep them away from a courtroom.