Five persons alleged to be members of one of the most prolific online drug trafficking organizations have been indicted by a federal grand jury for involving in using several Dark Web marketplace accounts and encrypted messaging apps to sell illegal drugs online. The five persons were alleged to have shipped some hard drugs to the Southern District of Ohio and laundered $2.8 million over the course of the conspiracy. Khlari Sirotkin,36 and Kelly Stephens, 32 of Colorado, Sean Deaver, 36 and Abby Jones, 37 of Nevada and Sasha Sirotkin 32 of California were all arrested in December and charged with 21 counts have already appeared in federal court in Cincinnati.
Each of the five persons may be facing almost 60 years in jail terms as the narcotics conspiracy in their several cases is punishable by 10 years jail term, money laundering is punishable by 20 years, selling counterfeits drugs, 10 years and attempting to distribute fentanyl or heroin also carry maximum penalties of 20 years. FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge, Chris Hoffmman stated that the FBI and its partners will make use of sophisticated techniques, creative methods and a joint effort to hold criminals accountable as it has been discovered that they leverage technologies such as Dark Web, encrypted messaging apps and cryptocurrencies to cover up their nefarious and illegal activities.p-cvg