Empire cybercrime market owner pleads guilty to drug conspiracy

A Virginia man and his co-defendant pleaded guilty for co-creating and operating Empire Market, a Tor hidden-service marketplace that facilitated roughly $430 million in illicit transactions (predominantly drug sales) from 2018–2020; law enforcement made undercover purchases, seized about $75M in cryptocurrency during the probe, and the defendants agreed to forfeit large amounts of bitcoin, Ether, real estate and other assets while facing significant federal prison terms.