Empire Market co-creator sentenced to 40 years in prison

Raheim Hamilton, co-creator of the dark web marketplace Empire Market, was sentenced to 40 years for facilitating $430 million in illegal transactions from 2018 to 2020. At its peak in August 2020, the site had roughly 1.68 million registered users, including over 5,000 vendors.

• Hamilton ran Empire Market from August 2017 until its 2020 shutdown
• The marketplace processed over 4 million transactions worth $430 million
• Drug sales totaled nearly $375 million across 166,000 listings
• Authorities seized about 1,230 bitcoin and three Virginia properties