Senior Advisor To Silk Road Dark Market Sentenced To 20 Years

JAKARTA - The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, led by attorney Damian Williams, announced on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, that Roger Clark had been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Clark is suspected of being Silk Road's senior adviser, a well-known dark web marketplace operating from 2011 to 2013. Prosecutors from the office reported that Clark gave comprehensive advice to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, about "all aspects of the company."

Clark, who has several pseudonyms such as "Variethy Jones," "Plural of Mongoose," and "cimon," is said to have conspired to distribute large amounts of narcotics through the Silk Road market. He is considered a Silk Road mentor who advises Ulbricht on security, technical infrastructure, and Silk Line governance rules. Clark also helped Ulbricht in looking for a software engineer to improve the Silk Line.

Williams' lawyers stated that Roger Clark was the central figure in leading Silk Road and that the sentence imposed on him was a reminder that criminal markets, such as Silk Road, ended in prison. In addition, the 2015 disclosure revealed that Clark was in contact with a fugitive rogue officer known as "Diamond." Clark also mentioned Diamond's links to other well-known bad agents, such as Carl Mark Force and Shaun Bridges.

In an interview conducted in October 2019, former prosecutor at the Attorney General's Office, Kathryn Haun, revealed the role of doubting Force and Bridges, who were arrested for extortion of Silk Road administrators. Haun underlined the extent of unethical behavior and duplication in the Silk Road investigation, which shows the manipulation and interference of rogue agents and officers.

Roger Clark's story about rogue law enforcement officers who managed to avoid arrests, such as Diamond, adds another layer to this narrative. Diamond, which is similar to Force, exploits black market administrators, including operators of the Agora platform. However, Diamond managed to continue to avoid arrests and detentions, in contrast to Force and Bridges.

The 20-year prison sentence handed down to Roger Clark is clear evidence that illegal activities in cyberspace will not escape the appropriate punishment. Law enforcement continues to face challenges in uncovering criminal networks on the black market, but the disclosure of cases like this serves as a reminder to the perpetrators that they will not escape justice.