Last week, the Slovakian administrator of what authorities say was one of the world’s leading darknet markets faced his fate in a St. Louis courtroom. U.S. District Judge Cristian M. Stevens sentenced Alan Bill to 200 months in a federal prison—a sentence of more than 16 years.
While Bill pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and admitted involvement in Kingdom Market, he tried to suggest at a day-long sentencing hearing that he wasn’t in charge. But the St. Louis-based agents who led the investigation into his case say he was the lead administrator of the site, which allowed people to buy drugs while obscuring their identities.
“At sentencing, the government put on evidence that Alan Bill was involved with Kingdom Market from the time it was simply an idea,” says Melissa McFadden, assistant special agent in charge of IRS–Criminal Investigation for the St. Louis Field Office, in an email. “He directed the actions of others involved in Kingdom Market, exercised decision-making authority over Kingdom’s operations, had full access and control of administrative functions of Kingdom Market, and he also had control of Kingdom’s funds.”…