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Former Secret Service agent sentenced to nearly six years imprisonment for Bitcoin theft

Shaun Bridges, a former Secret Service agent has been sentenced to 71 months imprisonment for the theft of over $800,000 in Bitcoin while investigating the Silk Road. The victims of his theft were the drug dealers using the notorious hidden Tor onion site.

Bridges' actions led Silk Road's owner Ross Ulbricht, better known by his handle Dread Pirate Roberts, to believe that another individual, Curtis Green, was stealing from Silk Road. Roberts attempted to have Green killed through hired assassins. The revelation of this plot to assassinate Green did a lot to tarnish Ulbricht's case even though the charge was later dropped.

Shaun Bridges was not alone in his crimes, he also conspired with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, Carl Force. Similar to Bridges, Force was sentenced and received a 78-month prison term in October for his part in the plot after he admitted to extortion, money laundering and the obstruction of justice. While people were still being put on trial and sentenced for their involvement in the first incarnation of Silk Road, a second version of it launched and has already been shut down.

Source: Ars Technica via Gizmodo

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