On Friday, a UK man who sold cannabis and magic mushrooms on the Darknet marketplace Silk Road was jailed for two years.
Cei William Owens was arrested with six other Brits last year by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of an international sting operation on Silk Road 2.0. He was hoping to get probation, but the judge said he had no choice but to impose an immediate prison sentence of two years behind bars.
Recorder Ian Murphy QC explained his decision:
“You even boasted that you would not sell anything that you would not take yourself. However, you did not know and did not care who you were selling to, they may have been children or vulnerable people.”
Defense barrister Paul Hobson said Owens had an unorthodox upbringing and that drug taking was the norm in his family unit. The Bitcoin Brit once bragged that this homegrown cannabis was “quality hash” and rated 4.9 out of 5 by Deepweb weed tokers.
When police raided his home last year they found drugs, digital scales, encryption software, and enough magic mushrooms and reefers to stone the whole of Wales.
NCA area commander Peter Smith said: “The realization that your bitcoin activities can be tracked and identified on the dark web is beginning to sink in for online criminals.”
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