Remember when Silk Road was online and available for all of your heroin and illegal firearms purchasing needs? The so-called “Amazon of Drugs” closed up shop when the Feds came knocking back in 2013. Silk Road’s creator Ross William Ulbricht a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts was sentenced to life in prison last year, but newly unsealed court documents show that two corrupt FBI agents who were involved with the initial investigation of Silk Road stole a large cache of bitcoins totaling $800,000 during the investigation. Both agents pled guilty last year, but now former federal agent Shaun Bridges is suspected of stealing more bitcoins after he pled guilty. In fact, Bridges was arrested for stealing more bitcoins just one day before he was supposed to turn himself in for the first crime.
According to Ars Technica, legal documents which were uncovered last week show that days before Bridges turned himself in, he allegedly wiped out a bitcoin wallet belonging to the Secret Service. The affidavit does not outright state that Bridges was the one who stole the money, but according to the Secret Service, Bridges was the only one who had access to the wallet despite his legal woes.
It seems like Bridges was doing the best he could to cover his tracks. In the affidavit, it states that Bridges tried to legally take his wife’s surname, changing his name from Shaun Wesley Bridges to Calogero Esposito. He was denied the name change twice and also failed to mention that he was about to plead guilty of a crime involving money laundering.
However, he did a little “Silk Road” type shopping on his own. Paypal records show that Bridges tried to order a birth certificate from an online source who claims to produce German documents. Currently, Bridges is doing time in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. It’s unclear when these new charges will be filed against him.
(Via Ars Technica)