Owner of Empire dark web market sentenced to 40 years in US prison

Raheim Hamilton, the 30-year-old owner of the Empire Market dark web marketplace, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in the United States, BleepingComputer reported on October 8, 2026. Hamilton, known online as "Sydney" and "ZeroAngel," ran the Tor-only market from August 2017 until its abrupt shutdown in 2020, during which it facilitated around $430 million in illegal transactions, including sales of stolen credentials and hacking tools.

What happened

According to BleepingComputer, Hamilton pleaded guilty in January to a federal drug conspiracy charge and admitted that the market was designed to help users avoid law enforcement detection and launder money. The case was handled by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, based on the article's references. His co-defendant, Thomas Pavey, known as "Dopenugget," pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge last year and was due to be sentenced later this month.

The two men were charged in July 2024, when authorities announced they had already seized $75 million in cryptocurrency. Investigators made undercover purchases on the market between April 2019 and May 2020, the publication said. Under the plea, Hamilton agreed to forfeit three properties in Virginia, about 1,230 bitcoin and 24.4 Ether, while Pavey agreed to forfeit two Florida properties, about 1,584 bitcoin, gold bars and three cars.

Scale of the market

Empire Market was modeled on and advertised as a clone of AlphaBay, where Hamilton had previously sold goods as "ZeroAngel" between June 2016 and July 2017. BleepingComputer reports that the site handled more than 4 million transactions from 2018 to 2020. Drug sales dominated, at nearly $375 million across more than 166,000 listings, but the market also offered counterfeit currency, stolen credentials, hacking tools and personally identifiable information. At its peak in August 2020 it had about 1.68 million registered users, including more than 5,000 vendors.

Transactions were conducted only in cryptocurrency, and users were encouraged to route funds through tumbling and mixing services. The market went offline in 2020 amid extortion-driven DDoS attacks and claims of an exit scam.

Why it matters

The case shows that prosecutions against such platforms can conclude years after the sites themselves disappear. Because Empire also traded in stolen credentials and personal data, the outcome is relevant to the wider cybercrime economy that supplies account takeover and fraud operations. Blockchain records tied to seized cryptocurrency also remain a key source of evidence in these investigations.