Drug Dealers Who Used Crypto Sentenced to Prison

Five drug dealers were sentenced Monday to prison terms ranging from 5-20 years for their roles in distributing various illegal drugs, at least in part using cryptocurrencies.

California-based Wyatt Pasek was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for selling counterfeit opioid pills, while Arizona-based Kevin Dean McCoy, Silvester Ruelas, Amber Worrell and Peggy Gomez were sentenced to a variety of prison terms for selling heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine on dark web marketplaces.

All of the defendants transacted with cryptocurrencies, according to court filings and press releases.

As part of a plea agreement, Pasek will turn over $21,000 in cash, a "Gold and diamond bitcoin necklace," a diamond-studded watch, two gold bars and "Thousands of dollars" in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies held in a Blockchain wallet.

McCoy, Ruelas, Worrell and Gomez pleaded guilty to money laundering charges; according to a press release, they used peer-to-peer exchanges to sell cryptocurrencies as part of this effort.

Authorities seized gold, silver and platinum bars, as well as a Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl ring, an AK-47, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun and a.50 caliber sniper rifle, Monday's release, by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona explained.

The Arizona defendants sold drugs using AlphaBay, Hansa and Dream Market, which all allowed for transactions conducted using cryptocurrencies.

Monday's sentences come days after the White House published a number of advisory notes stating that cryptocurrencies - including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and monero - are being used for illicit drug transactions.

The advisories include instructions on how to track payments using wallet and IP addresses, as well as transaction hashes.

The advisories were published simultaneously with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control's announcement that three Chinese citizens were being added to the Specially Designated Nationals list for shipping synthetic opioids to the U.S. Nearly a dozen bitcoin addresses were included on the blacklist.