A federal court has sentenced Raheim Hamilton, the 30-year-old operator of Empire Market, to 40 years in prison for his role in processing $430 million in illicit transactions across the dark web marketplace. Hamilton, who used the online aliases "Sydney" and "ZeroAngel," ran the platform from August 2017 until its sudden closure in 2020, which occurred following sustained extortion-based DDoS attacks that left users unable to withdraw funds held in escrow.
Prior to establishing Empire Market, Hamilton engaged in criminal commerce on AlphaBay between June 2016 and July 2017 under the "ZeroAngel" handle, before that marketplace was shut down in 2017. Empire Market itself operated as a TOR-accessible hidden service and was designed to replicate AlphaBay's functionality and business model.
Working alongside co-defendant Thomas Pavey, known online as "Dopenugget," Hamilton oversaw a marketplace that processed more than 4 million transactions between vendors and buyers. Pavey pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges last year.
While the platform facilitated sales of counterfeit currency, compromised account credentials, hacking software, and stolen personal data, controlled substance trafficking dominated the operation. Drug sales generated approximately $375 million of the total transaction volume, with more than 166,000 individual listings for illegal drugs throughout the marketplace's existence.
At its height in August 2020, Empire Market attracted roughly 1.68 million registered users, comprising more than 5,000 vendors and nearly 360,000 buyers.
When Hamilton entered his guilty plea in January, he acknowledged that the marketplace was intentionally structured to shield users from law enforcement and facilitate money laundering. All financial activity on the platform relied exclusively on cryptocurrency transactions to preserve user anonymity.
The controlled substances sold on the market included approximately at least 13,314.23 grams of fentanyl, 446,683.15 grams of cocaine, 71,992.33 grams of methamphetamine, and 103,396.21 grams of heroin.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice further detailed the operational security measures Hamilton and Pavey implemented: "Hamilton and Pavey established that all transactions on the site must be conducted using only cryptocurrency. They encouraged users to use tumbling and mixing services to conceal cryptocurrency transactions and utilize encryption while communicating on the site. They also allowed users to rate vendors based on how well the vendors concealed the drugs they shipped."
Hamilton and Pavey recruited moderators to arbitrate disputes between customers and vendors. Hamilton directly supervised approximately 5 moderators and personally intervened in certain cases.
Undercover law enforcement operations between April 2019 and May 2020 resulted in at least 143.5 grams of methamphetamine and 105.4 grams of heroin being purchased through the platform. Authorities also intercepted a package containing 443.5 grams of methamphetamine that had been ordered via Empire Market.
When the U.S. Justice Department brought charges against both defendants in July 2024, officials announced the seizure of $75 million in cryptocurrency assets from the investigation.
As part of his sentence, Hamilton must forfeit three Virginia properties, approximately 1,230 bitcoin, and 24.4 Ether. Pavey, whose sentencing is scheduled for later this month, has agreed to surrender two Florida properties, approximately 1,584 bitcoin, two boxes of 25-ounce gold bars, and three vehicles.