Corrupt former DEA agent Carl Force has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to a three-count charge of money laundering related to the theft of hundreds of thousands dollars in digital currency during the Silk Road bust.
In addition to imposing the prison term, the court ordered Force to pay $340,000 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following his sentence.
During the investigation into Silk Road, Force served as an undercover agent and was tasked with rooting out information about Ross Ulbricht, aka 'Dread Pirate Roberts', who is currently serving a life sentence for his role in running the dark bazaar.
In connection with his guilty plea, Force admitted that while undercover he offered to sell Ulbricht fake drivers’ licenses and “inside” law enforcement information about the Silk Road investigation. Force received $100,000 in payment from Roberts in bitcoin in return for the information, which he then deposited into his own personal account.
In addition, Force admitted that he devised and participated in a scheme to fraudulently obtain additional funds from Ulbricht through another online persona, “French Maid,” of which his task force colleagues were not aware. Force admitted that, as French Maid, he solicited and received bitcoin payments from Ulbricht worth approximately $100,000 in exchange for information concerning the government’s investigation into the Silk Road.
In connection with his guilty plea, Force also admitted that he secretly served as the chief compliance officer for CoinMKT, a digital currency exchange company. In this role, he also froze a client account for 'suspicious activity' and transferred $300,000 of the digital currency into a personal account that he controlled.