Roger Thomas Clark, an alleged operator of the infamous <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/crypto/chainalysis-study-shows-bitcoin-use-in-darknet-market-grows/">darknet</a> marketplace Silk Road has pleaded guilty on the charges of conspiring to distribute massive quantities of narcotics, as per a<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/senior-adviser-operator-silk-road-website-pleads-guilty-manhattan-federal-court"> press release</a> by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York on  30th January. Clark was first charged back in 2015 for trafficking narcotics and money laundering.

Prosecutors in the case have described Clark as a senior advisor to the founder of the Silk Road Ross Ulbricht, who went by several aliases like "Plural of Mongoose," "Variety Jones," "VJ" and "Cimon,"  Both Clark and Ulbricht were also accused of facilitating an attempted murder of one of the co-conspirators, however, they were not charged with the crime.
<h2>The Silk Road and Bitcoin  Connection</h2>
Silk Road was one of the most popular marketplaces on the darknet for illegal trade of goods, narcotics, illegal porn and many other prohibited services. The darknet marketplace made headlines because of its Bitcoin connection as many believe the king cryptocurrency was widely used on the darknet as a mode of payment for the purchase of these illegal goods and services. 

Ross Ulbricht the creator of the silk road was arrested by the FBI in October 2013 after a long hunt and help from other federal agencies of different countries. Ulbricht was arrested after a long investigation which involved buying narcotics from his associates, tracking the usernames of those associates on the darknet, and finally establishing that Dread Pirate Roberts was indeed the alias of Ulbricht himself.  Ulbricht had 50,000 Bitcoins circulating through the Silk Road’s marketplace. 144,000 Bitcoins were in “cold storage” and 25,000 packages from vendors to customers were in transit when he was nabbed.

Ulbricht was convicted on all counts after a jury trial and was sentenced to double life imprisonments without parole in May 2015. Clark, on the other hand, was extradited from Thailand and prosecutors said that the indictment and conviction of both the darknet operators must serve as an example to other criminals that the anonymity of dark web won't save criminals for long.

Ross Ulbricht Advisor and Silk Road Operator Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Charge

Roger Thomas Clark, an alleged operator of Silk Road has pleaded guilty on the charges of conspiring to distribute large quantity of narcotics

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.

Ross Ulbricht Advisor and Silk Road Operator Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Charge

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