A damsel in distress. Plural of Mongoose Update.

Rant and Rave about The Canna Trade.

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Post by Munchy »

Thanks for the update! :smoke:
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Post by AGD »

:abduction:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press ... 6/download" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ----------------UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - v. - MICHAEL R. WEIGAND, a/k/a “Shabang,” a/k/a “~Shabang~,” a/k/a “~s,” a/k/a “s,” Defendant. ----------------x:::::::::::::XINFORMATION 20 Cr. _____ ( ) COUNT ONE (False Statements to a Federal Agent) The United States Attorney charges: The Defendant, Associated Individuals, and the Silk Road Website 1.At all times relevant to this Information, MICHAEL R. WEIGAND, a/k/a “Shabang,” a/k/a “~Shabang~,” a/k/a “~s”, a/k/a “s”, the defendant, was a citizen of the United States and a resident of Ohio. WEIGAND is a computer programmer and an electrical engineer. 2.From in or about January 2011, up to and including on or about October 2, 2013, an underground website known as “Silk Road” hosted a sprawling black-market bazaar on the Internet, where illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services were regularly bought and sold by the site’s users. During its more than two-and-a-half years in operation, Silk Road was used by
2 several thousand drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services to well over one hundred thousand buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions. On Silk Road, sellers openly advertised and sold (a) illegal narcotics, such as heroin, cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and methamphetamine; (b) computer-hacking services and software; (c) fraudulent identification documents; (d) money laundering services; and (e) firearms. All transactions on Silk Road were required to be paid with Bitcoin, which facilitated the illegal commerce conducted on the site by, among other things, concealing the identities and locations of the users transmitting and receiving funds through the site. 3.The owner and operator of Silk Road was Ross William Ulbricht, a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road”. Ulbricht ran the website with the assistance of various co-conspirators, including Roger Thomas Clark, a/k/a “Variety Jones,” a/k/a “VJ,” a/k/a “Cimon,” a/k/a “Plural of Mongoose,”and a small staff, such as customer support staff representatives and several computer programmers. 4.Roger Thomas Clark, a/k/a “Variety Jones,” a/k/a “VJ,” a/k/a “Cimon,” a/k/a “Plural of Mongoose,” served as a trusted advisor of Ulbricht. Clark was responsible for, among other
3 things, promoting sales on Silk Road, hiring and managing a computer programmer, advising Ulbricht regarding Silk Road’s rules, and conducting research and collecting intelligence on law enforcement’s efforts to investigate Silk Road. Statutory Allegations 5.On or about January 6 and 7, 2019, in the Southern District of New York, MICHAEL R. WEIGAND, a/k/a “Shabang,” a/k/a “~Shabang~,” a/k/a “~s”, a/k/a “s”, the defendant, in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the Government of the United States, willfully and knowingly, falsified, concealed, and covered up by trick, scheme, and device material facts, and did make materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations, to wit, after being specifically warned that it is a federal crime to make a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer, WEIGAND falsely told a Special Agent of the Internal Revenue Service and a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in New York, New York, among other things, that:(1) he never opened an account on the Silk Road website; (2) he never used the online pseudonyms “Shabang” or “~Shabang~”; (3) he never transferred Bitcoin to the Silk Road website; (4) he never exposed computer security vulnerabilities in the Silk Road website; (5) he never communicated with anyone who used the online pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” “DPR,” or
4 “Silk Road”; (6) he never performed any services for the Silk Road website; and (7) the purpose of his trip to London in late 2013, following the takedown of the Silk Road website and arrest of Ross Ulbricht, was to meet with Roger Thomas Clark’s associate regarding a marijuana seed business. (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a).)________________________AUDREY STRAUSS Acting United States Attorney /s/
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/co ... ents-about" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 21, 2020
Computer Programmer Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Making False Statements About His Involvement In The “Silk Road” Website
Michael R. Weigand Concealed Role in the Silk Road Website, Including Providing Technological Advice Directly to Silk Road’s Principals

Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joleen Simpson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Peter C. Fitzhugh, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced that MICHAEL R. WEIGAND, a/k/a “Shabang,” a/k/a “~Shabang~,” a/k/a “~s,” a/k/a “s,” pled guilty today to making false statements to federal agents about his involvement in, and his work for, the “Silk Road” online illicit black market, which was responsible for distributing hundreds of millions of dollars of narcotics and other contraband. WEIGAND’s false statements concealed his role in the operation of the Silk Road website. WEIGAND surrendered today and pled guilty before United States District Judge William H. Pauley III, to whom his case is assigned.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Silk Road was a secret online marketplace for illegal drugs, hacking services, and a number of other criminal activities. Michael Weigand helped Silk Road by, among other things, identifying technological vulnerabilities in the site, supplying technological advice directly to Silk Road’s leadership, and travelling overseas to remove Silk Road evidence from a co-conspirator’s residence. When Weigand was questioned by law enforcement in 2019, he falsely claimed not to have done anything at all for Silk Road. For his various false statements, Weigand now faces potential prison time.”

IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Joleen Simpson said: “During its years of operation the Silk Road website allowed thousands of individuals to anonymously conduct narcotics transactions, launder money, and facilitate other illegal transactions. This investigation took law enforcement above and beyond its traditional role in financial crimes. In effect, it put us squarely in the middle of the high-tech world of cyber-crime and the dark web. When given the opportunity to provide truthful statements to the agents, Weigand knowingly and willfully attempted to deceive the agents of the role he played in providing technical expertise to the Silk Road operators. I hope that this guilty plea will discourage others from providing false information to law enforcement officers in the future.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “Weigand and others used their skills and savvy to create a secret online enclave for criminals to trade in illegal drugs and illicit goods and services. They thought they were smart enough to evade law enforcement, but they were wrong. When Weigand was confronted, he lied about his involvement – once again thinking we weren’t smart enough to catch him. With today’s plea, he’ll have time to contemplate the truth as he awaits his sentence.”

HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh said: “Criminal activity on the dark web continues to be more prevalent, allowing easy accessibility to narcotics and illicit goods with the click of a button. With online criminal enterprises growing, law enforcement technologies are advancing, and HSI with its partners are infiltrating the dark web, intercepting online dealings and locating the perpetrators. Today’s guilty plea should stand as reminder to those criminals who have a false sense of security behind their computer screen, that they too will one day face the consequences of their actions.”

According to the allegations in the Information, court filings, statements made in court, and evidence presented during the 2015 trial of Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road’s founder and chief administrator:

Ulbricht created Silk Road in approximately January 2011, and owned and operated the underground website until it was shut down by law enforcement in October 2013. Silk Road emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet at the time. During its more than two-and-a-half years in operation, Silk Road was used by several thousand drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services to well over one hundred thousand buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions. Silk Road was specifically designed to allow its users to buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods and services anonymously and outside the reach of law enforcement through the use of the Tor network and a Bitcoin-based payment system.

WEIGAND – who is a computer programmer and electrical engineer – worked with Roger Thomas Clark, the senior adviser to Ulbricht, on certain aspects of Silk Road. For instance, WEIGAND and Clark worked to identify technological vulnerabilities in the Silk Road website. WEIGAND also supplied technological advice directly to Clark and Ulbricht. In January 2019, WEIGAND was questioned by an IRS Special Agent and an FBI Special Agent. After being specifically warned that it is a federal crime to make a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer, WEIGAND attempted to cover up his involvement in Silk Road by falsely stating, among other things, that (1) he never opened an account on Silk Road; (2) he never used the online pseudonyms “Shabang” or “~Shabang~”; (3) he never transferred Bitcoin to Silk Road; (4) he never exposed computer security vulnerabilities in the Silk Road website; (5) he never communicated with anyone who used the online pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” “DPR,” or “Silk Road”; (6) he never performed any services for the Silk Road website; and (7) he did not know the true identity of “Variety Jones” (one of Clark’s pseudonyms) on Silk Road. WEIGAND also falsely stated that the purpose of his trip to London in late 2013, following the takedown of the Silk Road website and arrest of Ulbricht, was to meet with Clark’s associate regarding a marijuana seed business. In fact, WEIGAND traveled to Clark’s London residence and removed Silk Road evidence.

WEIGAND, 56, of Kirtland, Ohio, pled guilty to one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. WEIGAND is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Pauley on December 18, 2020, at 2:00 p.m.

The founder and operator of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, was previously convicted of seven offenses after a jury trial: distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the Internet, conspiring to distribute narcotics, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit computer hacking, conspiring to traffic in false identity documents, and conspiring to commit money laundering. Ulbricht was sentenced principally to life imprisonment and $183 million in forfeiture. The senior adviser to Ulbricht, Roger Thomas Clark, pled guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics and his sentencing is currently pending; Clark faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

* * *

Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding joint efforts of the IRS-CI, the FBI, and HSI. Ms. Strauss also thanked the FBI’s Cleveland Office for its assistance.

This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Neff is in charge of the prosecution.

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Post by Munchy »

:frown:
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Post by Jesús Malverde »

Amazing that ~S still hadn't seen through Clark as late as 2013. By then Roger was sporting more red flags than a Chinese PLA parade. Registered Republican voter, kinda fits.
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Post by smokebreaks »

That's kind of a fucked up read and the end of the line for a couple of people we all knew.

Too bad for that guy too...
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Post by Prawn Connery »

Perhaps ~juice~ will finally now believe Gad isn't ~s

Or was he? :gadday:
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Post by Munchy »

I was also thinking that about Gad. this would be a good time for Gad to stop by and post to prove that point. but this doc reveals that ~s is in the USA, and I'm pretty sure the Gad was not? there now I've mentioned his name 3 times like Beetlejuice so he should be conjured up. but I'm not so sure if we should risk saying Juice 3 times as well? :confused:
beetlejuice_sm.jpg
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Post by smokebreaks »

:toker1: I guess I’ll be the one go out and say it.

The one they’re calling ~s ain’t “the” ~s

And I kind of got half a mind to call the judge and government out on it.

This is exactly why you don’t go out and assume the moniker of a legend.

No matter how smart you think you are, you’re really no match for the power of the truly ignorant.

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Post by AlwaysBlue »

well well well
PoM just shaved 10 years off his sentence. Probably looking at time served now. He will be back on Koh Chang playing in the surf before you can say Jack Robinson

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