Corrupt DEA Agent Carl Force Gets 6 Years In Prison For Extorting Bitcoins

Posted by: Benjamin Vitáris

October 23, 2015

Carl Force, the former DEA agent who was part of the Silk Road task force was sentenced for more than 6 years of prison for extorting payments in Bitcoins from Silk Road founder, Ross Ulbricht. According to law enforcement authorities, Carl Force has received around $50.000 in BTC from Ulbricht. He posed as a dark net market vendor called “Nob” and convinced the Silk Road founder that he had information regarding the investigation of the Silk Road investigation. However, Force, instead of reporting the Bitcoins he received from Ulbricht to the Drug Enforcement Administration, he transferred the amount to his personal account.

The former DEA agent has pled guilty for charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice back in July. However, he was not the only federal agent who had been caught doing illegal activities in the Silk Road case. Another federal agent, Shaun Bridges, who was also part of the Baltimore Silk Road task force, is due to be sentenced in December for charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice. He pled guilty for these charges. According to court documents, Bridges used a Silk Road administrator account for stealing around 20.000 BTC, which he converted and cashed out worth around $820.000 at the time.

Force has tried to extort more Bitcoins from Ulbricht claiming that he had more information regarding the investigation. He posed as a Silk Road user called “French Maid” and asked the Silk Road founder to send him $98.000 in Bitcoins. Force’s defense has asked court for shorter sentence due to the ex-DEA agent’s mental health issues, however, prosecution stayed with the 87 months of prison term. On Monday, Carl Force has apologized to the American people for betraying them:

“I’m sorry. I lost it and I don’t understand a lot of it,” he said.

Updated: 2015-10-23