roger thomas clark, amended complaint

7/23/2019 Roger Thomas Clark, Amended Complaint

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/roger-thomas-clark-amended-complaint 1/20

Approved:

RICHARD

COO

R/TIMOTHY

T. HOWARD

Ass i s t an t United

Sta tes Atto rne

DE 7Z 15

Before:

HONORABLE FRANK M S

United Sta tes

Magis t ra te

Judge

Southern

D i s t r i c t

of

New

York

-- --- - - -

-- -

-- - -------- - - - -- - -- -- - -- - - -

-

------------ -

---- ----

----- -

-,

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

- v . -

ROGER THOMAS CLARK

a / k / a Varie ty Jones ,

a / k / a

VJ,

a / k / a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose,

Defendant .

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK s s . :

MENDED COMPL INT

15 Mag.

1335

Viola t ions

o f

21

u.s.c. §§ 846, 812,

841 (a) (1) ,

841

{b)

(1)

(A),

84l(h) 18 u.s.c. §§

1028 (a) (2)

( f ) ,

1030 (a)

(2)

(b) , 1956,

2

COUNTY OF OFFENSE:

NEW

YORK

GARY

L. ALFORD, being duly sworn, deposes and says t ha t he

i s

a

Specia l

Agent with

the

In te rna l

Revenue

Serv ice ( IRS ) and

charges as fo l lows:

COUNT ONE

(Narcot ics

Tra f f i ck ing Conspiracy)

1 . From in

o r about

January 2011, up

to

and

inc lud ing

on

o r

about October

2, 2013,

in the Southern

D i s t r i c t of New York

and

elsewhere , ROGER

THOMAS

CLARK

a / k / a

Varie ty Jones ,

a / k / a

VJ,

a / k / a Cimon, a / k / a Plura l

of

Mongoose, the

defendant ,

and othe rs

known

and unknown, i n t en t iona l ly and knowingly did

combine,

conspire , confederate , and

agree

t oge the r and

with

each

othe r to v io la t e the na rco t i c s laws

of

the United Sta tes .

2.

t

was

a

p a r t

and

an

objec t

of

the

consp i racy

t ha t

ROGER THOMAS

CLARK

a / k / a Varie ty Jones , a / k / a VJ, a /k /a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l of Mongoose, the

defendant , and

others

known and unknown, would and

did

d i s t r i bu t e and possess

with

the

i n t e n t to d i s t r i bu t e con t ro l l ed subs tances , i n v io la t ion of

Ti t l e 21, United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion

841(a) (1) .

Case 1:15-mj-01335-UA Document 5 Filed 12/17/15 of 20



3.

t

was

fu r the r

a

p a r t

and

an objec t

of

the conspiracy

t h a t ROGER THOMAS

CLARK

a / k / a Varie ty

Jones ,

a /k /a VJ,

a /k / a Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose, the

defendant ,

and

othe rs

known and

unknown,

would and

did

de l ive r ,

d i s t r i bu t e , and

dispense

con t ro l l ed substances by means of

the

In te rne t , in

a

manner not

author ized

by law, and a id and

abe t such a c t iv i t y ,

in

v i o l a t i o n

of

Ti t l e

21,

United

Sta tes

Code,

Sect ion

841(h).

4. The con t ro l l ed substances

t h a t ROGER

THOMAS CLARK

a /k / a Variety Jones , a / k / a VJ, a / k / a Cimon, a / k / a Plura l

of

Mongoose, the

defendant ,

conspi red to d i s t r i bu t e and possess

with

i n t en t to d i s t r i bu t e , and de l ive r , d i s t r i bu t e , and dispense

by

means

of

the

In te rne t , in

a

manner not au thor ized by law,

were

(a)

one ki logram and more of mixtures and substances

con ta in ing a de tec tab le amount of heroin; (b) f ive kilograms

and

more of

mixtu res and

substances con ta in ing

a

de tec t ab le amount

of cocaine; (c) t en grams and more of

mixtures

and substances

con ta in ing

a de tec tab le amount

of ly se rg ic

ac id

diethylamide

(LSD),

and (d)

500

grams and

more of

mixtures and

substances

con ta in ing

a

de tec tab le amount of

methamphetamine,

i t s sa l t s ,

isomers, and

sa l t s of i t s

isomers,

a l l i n v io la t ion of Ti t l e 21,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion 841(b) (1) (A).

(T i t l e 21, United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 846.)

COUNT TWO

(Narcot ics

Traf f i ck ing)

5. From

in

o r about

January

2011, up to

and

including

on

o r

about October

2, 2013,

in

the

Southern

Di s t r i c t

of

New

York

and

elsewhere , ROGER

THOMAS CLARK a / k / a

Variety

Jones , a / k / a

VJ, a / k / a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose, the

defendant ,

d i s t r i bu t e d

and possessed

with

the i n t en t to d i s t r i bu t e

con t ro l l ed substances , and a ided and abe t t ed such d i s t r i bu t ion

and possess ion

with

the

i n t en t to

d i s t r i bu t e ,

in v io la t ion

of

Ti t l e 21, United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion

841(a) (1) .




6. The con t ro l l ed subs tances involved in the

offense

inc luded , among

othe rs , 1 ki logram

and more of mixtures and

subs tances

con ta in ing a de tec t ab le amount of heroin , 5 kilograms

and more of mixtures and subs tances

con ta in ing a de tec t ab le

amount

of cocaine,

10 grams

and

more of

mixtures

and

substances

con ta in ing a de tec t ab le amount of

ly se rg ic

ac id

diethylamide

LSD) ,

and

500

grams

and

more

of mixtures

and

subs tances


amount

of methamphetamine, i t s sa l t s ,

i somers ,

and

s a l t s

of

i t s isomers,

a l l

i n v io la t ion

of

Ti t l e 21,

United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 84l(b) (1) (A).

(T i t l e

21, United Sta tes Code, Sect ions 812, 841(a)

(1) and

841(b) (1)

(A);

and Ti t l e 18, United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 2.)

COUNT THREE

(D i s t r ibu t ion

of

Narco t ics by Means

of

the In t e rne t )

7.

From

in o r about January 2011, up to and

including

in

o r

about

October 2013,

in the Southern

D i s t r i c t of

New York

and

elsewhere ,

ROGER THOMAS

CLARK

a /k /a

Varie ty Jones ,

a /k /a

VJ, a /k /a Cimon, a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose, the defendant ,

de l ivered ,

d i s t r ibu ted , and dispensed con t ro l l ed subs tances by

means

of

the

In te rne t , in

a

manner not au thor ized by law, and

a ided and

abe t t ed

such

a c t iv i t y ,

in v io la t ion

of Ti t l e 21,

United

Sta tes Code,

Sect ion 84l (h ) .

8.

The con t ro l l ed subs tances involved in the o f fense

included,

among

othe rs , 1 ki logram and more of

mixtures and

subs tances con ta in ing

a

de tec t ab le

amount

of

heroin , 5 kilograms

and

more

of

mixtures

and

subs tances

con ta in ing

a

de tec t ab le

amount

of cocaine, 10

grams

and

more

of mixtures and substances

con ta in ing a de tec t ab le amount

of

l yse rg ic

ac id

diethylamide

(LSD),

and 500 grams

and

more

of

mixtures

and

subs tances


amount

of

methamphetamine, i t s

sa l t s ,

i somers ,

and

s a l t s

of

i t s isomers, a l l

in

v io la t ion of

Ti t l e

21,

United Sta tes Code,

Sect ion

841(b) (1) (A).

(T i t l e 21,

United

Sta tes Code,

Sect ions

812, 841(h)

and

841

(b)

(1)

(A).)

COUNT FOUR

(Conspiracy

to Commit

and Aid and Abet

Computer

Hacking)

9. From in

o r about

January 2011, up to and

including

in

o r about

October 2013,

in

the

Southern

D i s t r i c t

of New

York and

elsewhere , ROGER THOMAS CLARK a /k /a Varie ty

Jones ,

a /k /a

VJ, a / k / a Cimon, a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose, the defendant ,

3




and

othe rs

known and unknown,

i n t en t iona l ly

and

knowingly did

combine,

conspire , confederate ,

and agree

t oge the r

and

with each

othe r to commit computer

hacking , and

to

a id and

abet the same,

in

v i o l a t i o n

of

Ti t l e

18,

United Sta tes Code, Sect ions

1 O3 O (

a)

( 2 )

and

2 .

10.

t

was

a

p a r t

and

an

objec t

of

the

consp i racy

t h a t

ROGER

THOMAS

CLARK

a / k / a

Varie ty Jones ,

a / k / a

VJ,

a /k /a

Cimon, a / k / a

Plura l of Mongoose,

the defendant ,

and

othe rs

known and unknown,

would

and

did i n t en t iona l ly

access

computers

without

au thor i za t ion ,

and thereby

would

and did

obta in

in fo rmat ion

from pro tec t ed computers, fo r purposes

of commercial

advantage

and p r iv a t e

f inanc ia l gain ,

and

in fu r therance of

cr imina l and t o r t ious

ac t s

i n v io la t ion of the Cons t i tu t ion

and

the laws of

the United

Sta tes ,

and

would

and

did a id

and

abe t

such

unau thor ized

access ,

in

v io la t ion

of

Ti t l e

18,

United

S ta t e s Code,

Sect ions 1030(a) (2)

and 2.

(T i t l e

18,

United

Sta tes Code,

Sect ion

1030(b)

.)

COUNT FIVE

(Conspiracy to Traf f ic in Fraudulent Id e n t i f i c a t i o n Documents)

11. From in

o r about January 2011, up to

and

including

in

o r about October 2013,

in

the Southern D is t r i c t of New

York and

elsewhere , ROGER THOMAS CLARK a / k / a Varie ty Jones , a /k /a

VJ, a / k / a

Cimon,

a /k /a

Plura l

of

Mongoose,

the defendant ,

and othe rs known and unknown, i n t en t iona l ly

and knowingly

did

combine, conspire , confederate , and agree

toge ther

and with each

o t h e r to

t r a f f i c

in

f raudu len t

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n

documents, and

to

a id

and

abet the same, i n v io la t ion of Ti t l e

18,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ions 1028(a) (2) .

12. I t was a p a r t

and an

objec t of the consp i racy t h a t

ROGER

THOMAS CLARK

a / k / a Varie ty Jones ,

a /k /a VJ,

a / k / a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l of Mongoose, the defendant ,

and

othe rs

known

and

unknown,

would

and

did knowingly t rans fe r , i n

and

a f f ec t i n g

i n t e r s t a t e

and

fo re ign commerce,

f a l se i d e n t i f i c a t i o n

documents

and

au then t ica t ion fea tu re s ,

knowing

t ha t such

documents

and

fea tu re s were produced without lawful au thor i ty ,

inc lud ing

d r i v e r ' s

l i censes ,

personal i de n t i f i c a t i on cards ,

and

documents

t ha t

appeared

to

be

i s sued

by and

under

the

au thor i ty

of the United

Sta tes , and

would

and

did a id

and

abe t such

t r a n s fe r s , in v i o l a t i o n of

Ti t l e 18, United

Sta tes Code,

Sect ions 1028(a)

(2) and

2.

(T i t l e 18,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion 1028(f) . )




COUNT

SIX

(Money

Laundering Conspiracy)

13. From in

o r

about January 2011, up to and

including

on

o r about October

2,

2013,

in

the Southern Di s t r i c t

of

New York

and elsewhere , ROGER

THOMAS

CLARK, a / k / a Varie ty Jones ,

a /k /a

VJ,

a /k /a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose,

the

defendant ,

and

othe rs

known and

unknown, i n t en t iona l ly

and knowingly did

combine,

conspire , confederate , and

agree

t oge the r

and

with

each

othe r to commit money l aunder ing , i n v io la t ion

of Ti t l e

18,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ions

1956 (a) (1) A) (i) and

1956 (a)

(1)

B) ( i ) .

14. I t

was

a p a r t and an objec t

of the

consp i racy t ha t

ROGER THOMAS

CLARK,

a / k / a Varie ty

Jones ,

a / k / a VJ, a /k /a

Cimon, a / k / a Plura l

of

Mongoose, the

defendant , and

others

known

and unknown, in offenses invo lv ing and

a f f ec t i n g

i n t e r s t a t e

and fo re ign commerce,

knowing

t ha t

the

proper ty

involved in c e r t a i n f inanc ia l

t r ansac t ions represen ted proceeds

of some

form of unlawful a c t iv i t y , would and did conduct and

a t tempt

to conduct such f inanc ia l t r ansac t ions ,

which

in f ac t

involved

the proceeds

of

spec i f i ed unlawful a c t iv i t y , to wit ,

narco t ics t r a f f i c k i n g , in v io la t ion

of

Ti t l e 21, United Sta tes

Code, Sect ion 841, with the i n t en t to promote the car ry ing on

of

such spec i f i ed unlawful a c t iv i t y , i n v io la t ion

of

Ti t l e 18,

United Sta tes Code, Sect ion

1956(a) (1)

A) ( i ) .

15. I t was fu r the r

a

p a r t and

an objec t

of the consp i racy

t ha t

ROGER

THOMAS

CLARK,

a / k / a

Varie ty Jones , a / k / a

VJ,

a / k / a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose,

the

defendant ,

and

othe rs

known

and unknown, in offenses invo lv ing

and a f f ec t i n g

i n t e r s t a t e and fo re ign commerce, knowing t ha t the p roper ty

involved

i n c e r t a i n f inanc ia l t r ansac t ions represen ted proceeds

of

some

form

of

unlawful a c t iv i t y , would and did conduct and

a t tempt

to conduct such f inanc ia l t r ansac t ions ,

which

in f ac t

involved the proceeds

of

spec i f i ed unlawful a c t iv i t y , to

wit ,

narco t ics t ra f f i ck ing , in

v io la t ion

of Ti t l e 21,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion 841, knowing t ha t

the

t r ansac t ions were designed

in whole

and

in p a r t to conceal

and

disguise

the natu re ,

the

l oca t ion ,

the

source,

the

ownership, and the

con t ro l

of the

proceeds of

spec i f i ed

unlawful

a c t iv i t y ,

in

v io la t ion

of

Ti t l e

18,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion 1956 (a) 1) B) i ) .

(T i t l e 18,

United

Sta tes

Code, Sect ion

1956(h)

.)

The bases

for

my

knowledge and for

the foregoing

charges

are ,

in par t , as fo l lows:

5




16. have been

a Specia l

Agent with IRS fo r approximate ly

seven years . am

cur ren t ly ass igned

to the New

York Organized

Crime Drug

Enforcement St r ike

Force.

have

been persona l ly

involved in

the

inves t iga t ion of

t h i s matter ,

a long with agents

of

the

Federa l Bureau of

Inves t iga t ion , the Drug

Enforcement

Adminis t ra t ion ,

and

Homeland

Secur i ty Inves t iga t ions .

This

a f f ida v i t i s based upon my inves t iga t ion , my

conversat ions

with

o t h e r law enforcement

agents ,

and

my examinat ion of repor t s ,

records ,

and

othe r

evidence. Because t h i s

a f f ida v i t

i s being

submi t ted

fo r the l imi t ed purpose of

es t ab l i s h in g probable

cause , it

does

not inc lude

a l l

the f ac t s t h a t have

l ea rned

dur ing the

course of my

inves t iga t ion . Where the con ten t s of

documents

and the ac t ions , s ta tements , and

conversat ions of

othe rs a re repor ted here in ,

they

are repor ted

in substance and

i n pa r t ,

except

where otherwise indica ted .

OV RVI W

17.

From

in o r about January 2011, up to and including

on

o r about October 2, 2013, an underground

websi te known

as Si lk

Road hos ted

a

sprawling b lack-market bazaar on

the

In te rne t ,

where

i l l e g a l drugs

and

othe r

illi it goods and

se rvices ,

such

as

f raudu len t i de n t i f i c a t i on

documents and computer

hacking

se rv ice s ,

were r egu la r ly

bought

and

so ld

by the

s i t e ' s users .

18.

During

i t s more

than

two-and-a-ha l f years in

opera t ion , S i lk Road was used

by

severa l thousand

drug

dea le rs

and othe r unlawful vendors

to

d i s t r i bu t e i l l e g a l drugs

and

othe r

illi it

goods

and

se rv ice s to

well over

a

hundred

thousand

buyers , and to l aunder hundreds

of mil l ions

of d o l l a r s

derived

from these

unlawful t r ansac t ions .

19. The

owner and

opera tor

of S i lk Road was Ross Ulbr ich t ,

a / k / a Dread P i r a t e

Roberts ,

a / k / a DPR, a / k / a

Si lk

Road,

who

was convic ted on

charges , S l 14

Cr. 68 (KBF), r e l a t i n g to

h is opera t ion

of S i lk Road

fo l lowing

a

j u ry t r i a l in the

Southern D i s t r i c t

of

New

York on February

4,

2015. Ulbr ich t ran

the websi te

with

the ass i s tance

of

various

co-conspi ra tors ,

inc lud ing

ROGER THOMAS CLARK a /k /a Varie ty Jones , a /k /a VJ,

a / k / a

Cimon,

a /k /a

Plura l

of

Mongoose,

the defendant ,

who

served as

a

t r u s t e d adv isor

of

Ulbr ich t , and

a

smal l s t a f f ,

inc lud ing

cus tomer support

s t a f f r ep resen ta t ives

and

severa l

computer

programmers. CLARK

and

the r e s t

of the

s t a f f were paid

by Ulbr ich t

for t h e i r

se rv ice s .

20. From

a t

l e a s t in o r about January 2012, up to

and

inc lud ing on

o r

about October 2, 2013, ROGER THOMAS CLARK a / k / a




Varie ty Jones ,

a / k / a VJ, a / k / a

Cimon,

a / k / a

Plura l

of

Mongoose, the defendant , engaged in

the

fo l lowing a c t i v i t i e s

among others for Si lk Road:

a .

Hi r ing

and managing a computer programmer who

a s s i s t e d

in developing computer

code and

mainta in ing Si lk

Road's

t echn ica l

i n f r a s t ru c t u re ;

b. Providing advice

to

Ulbr ich t regard ing managing

and

opera t ing

S i lk Road, including s ecu r i t y advice, and advice

regarding the

ru les and po l i c i es on Si lk Road;

c. Ass i s t ing

in

promoting

sa les

on the Si lk

Road

webs i te ,

including providing help

with

coord ina t ing a l a rge -

sca le promotion

for the

sa le of narco t ics and

othe r

contraband

on S i lk

Road; and

d.

Conducting research

and

co l l ec t ing in t e l l igence

on

the

e f fo r t s

of

law

enforcement

to inves t iga te S i lk

Road.

B CKGROUND ON S LK RO D

21. In

the

course of inves t iga t ing S i lk Road,

I

have

been

involved in

undercover

purchases

of

narco t ics

from the

websi te

through

an undercover

account , which were ordered to and

rece ived

in

the Southern D is t r i c t

of

New York. In addi t ion , I

have a l so spoken with,

among

othe r law enforcement agents , an

agen t

with Homeland Secur i ty Inves t igat ions ( HSI Agent-1 ) , who

con t ro l l ed

mult ip le undercover

accounts on

the

s i t e ,

through

which

he

conducted

ex tens ive undercover a c t iv i t y , including,

from Ju ly to October 2013, and worked in an undercover

capac i ty

as a member of the s i t e ' s paid customer

support

s t a f f .

In

add i t ion , I

have

reviewed the con ten t s of computers

used to

opera te Si lk Road. Through these methods and

sources ,

I am

f ami l i a r with

the

S i lk Road websi te

and how

t

operated . In

pa r t i c u l a r , I know t ha t :

a . S i lk Road was

operated

on what i s known as

The

Onion

Router o r Tor

network

( Tor ) , a

spec ia l network

on the

In te rne t

designed

to

make

t pra c t i c a l l y

impossib le

to

phys ica l ly loca te the

computers

hos t ing

o r

access ing

websi tes on

the

network.

A more complete descr ip t ion of Si lk Road and

i t s

opera t ions

can be

found

in

the cr iminal compla int

f i l e d

aga ins t

Ross

Ulbr icht ,

the

founder

of S i lk Road,

see

United Sta tes v.

Ross Ulbr icht ,

14

Mag

068

(S.D.N.Y. 2013).

7




b.

All

t r ansac t ions on Si lk Road were

requi red to

be

paid

with

Bitcoins ,

an e l ec t r o n i c currency des igned to be

as

anonymous

as

cash.

c . During i t s opera t ion ,

S i lk

Road

genera ted sa les

revenue

t o t a l i ng

over 9 .9

mil l ion

Bi tco ins

and

co l lec ted

commissions

from these

s a l e s

t o t a l i ng

over 640,000

Bitcoins ,

worth more

than $213

mil l ion

and

$13 mil l ion , r e spec t ive ly ,

based

on

the preva i l ing Bitcoin

exchange

r a t e s when the

underly ing

sa les occurred.

d. The i l l e g a l natu re of

the

i t ems so ld on Si lk Road

was

r ead i l y apparent to any

user v i s i t i ng the s i t e .

The goods

sold

on Si lk

Road cons i s t ed

overwhelmingly of

i l l e g a l drugs

of

nea r ly

every var ie ty ,

which

were openly

adve r t i sed

on

the

s i t e

as

such

and were

immediately

and prominent ly

v i s ib l e

on

the

s i t e ' s

home

page.

e. In addi t ion , the s i t e ' s home page l i s t e d

Forger ies as a category of

goods

for

sa le , and

users

who

c l i cked

on

the

Forger ies

category

were presen ted with

l i s t i ngs

fo r

f raudu len t

i de n t i f i c a t i on

documents under

the ca tegor i e s

Fake

IDs

and

Passpor t s .

Based on y review of

screen shots

from

the

S i lk

Road

websi te ,

I

know t ha t

l i s t i ngs

included, among

othe r th ings , f raudu len t dr ive rs ' l i censes from various s t a t e s

in

the

United Sta tes and

other na t ions ,

f raudu len t Soc ia l

Secur i ty cards ,

and f raudu len t

passpor t s

from nat ions

such

as

the

United Sta tes ,

the

United Kingdom, and Aus t ra l i a .

f . In addi t ion , the s i t e ' s home

page

l i s t e d Digi ta l

goods as

a category

of

goods

fo r sa le , and

users who c l icked

on

t h i s

category

were presen ted with

l i s t i n g s

fo r

computer

hacking

too l s and

i nd iv idua l s

of fe r ing

t he i r computer

hacking

se rv ice s

fo r sa les . For

example, based on y

review

of

screen shots from

the

Si lk

Road

websi te ,

I know t ha t l i s t i ngs included,

among

o ther th ings ,

too l s

t ha t f a c i l i t a t e d s t ea l ing passwords

and

l og in c reden t i a l s ,

and mal ic ious

sof tware t ha t

al lows

users

remotely

to con t ro l vic t im computers

without

au thor iza t ion .

g. As of October

2,

2013, when the websi te was shut

down

by law

enforcement ,

the re

were

approximate ly 13,000

l i s t i n g s for con t ro l l ed

subs tances on

the websi te , l i s t e d under

the ca tegor i e s Cannabis, Dissoc ia t ives , Ecstasy ,

In tox ican t s ,

Opioids ,

Precursors , Presc r ip t ion ,

Psychedel ics , and St imulants ,

among

others . The narcot ics

sold

on

the s i t e

t end

to be

so ld in

indiv idua l -use quan t i t i e s ,

al though some vendors so ld

in

bulk. The of fe r ings

for

s a l e on




the

s i t e

a t any s ing le t ime amounted to mult i -k i logram

quan t i t i e s of hero in cocaine, and methamphetamine, as wel l as

d i s t r i bu t ion

quan t i t i e s of othe r con t ro l l ed

substances

such as

LSD.

h. From in o r about November 2011, up to and

inc lud ing

a t

l e a s t

in o r

about May

2013,

HSI

Agent-1

p a r t i c i p a t e d in dozens of undercover purchases of con t ro l l ed

substances from

Si lk Road vendors . The

subs tances

purchased in

these

undercover

t r ansac t ions inc luded various

Schedule

I and

I I

drugs, such as

ecs tasy

cocaine,

heroin

LSD and othe rs .

Samples of

these

purchases

were

l abora to ry - tes ted and

almost a l l

t e s t ed pos i t ive for the drugs the i tems were adver t i sed to be on

Si lk

Road.

i . In add i t ion

from in

o r about

September

2011,

up

to and inc lud ing a t l e a s t

in

o r about

May

2013,

an agent of

the

Drug Enforcement Adminis t ra t ion ac t ing in an undercover capac i ty

p a r t i c i p a t e d

in

over a

dozen

undercover purchases of

con t ro l l ed

substances from

S i lk

Road

vendors,

which con t ro l l ed substances

were shipped to an undercover mail ing

address

loca ted

within the

Southern D is t r i c t

of

New York. The

subs tances

purchased in

these

undercover

t r ansac t ions inc luded con t ro l l ed

subs tances ,

such

as

hero in cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone, and

amphetamine. Samples of

these

purchases were l abora to ry - tes ted

and t e s t e d

pos i t ive for the drugs the i tems were adve r t i sed to

be on Si lk

Road.

j The only

form of

payment accep ted

on

S i lk Road

was

Bitcoins .

Bi tco ins a re

an

anonymous,

decen t ra l i z ed

form

of

e l ec t r o n i c

currency. All

Bitcoin

t r ansac t ions

are

recorded on

~ p u l i c l edger known

as

the Blockchain,

s to red on the peer

to -peer network on which

the Bitcoin system opera tes .

The

Blockchain

serves to

prevent

a

use r from spending the

same

Bitcoins more

than

once. However, the Blockchain only r e f l e c t s

the movement of funds between anonymous

addresses

and t he re fo re

cannot

by

i t s e l f

be

used

to

determine the i den t i t i e s

of

the

persons involved in

the

t r ansac t ions . Only

i f

one

knows the

i den t i t i e s assoc ia t ed

with each

Bitcoin

address involved in a

s e t

of t r ansac t ions

i s it poss ib l e

to

meaningful ly t r ace funds

through the system.

k.

Bitcoins are

not

i l l e g a l in

and of

themselves

and

have

known

l eg i t imate uses . However, Bi tco ins

are

a l so known to

be

used

by cybercr iminals

fo r

money-laundering purposes, g iven

the

ease wi th which they

can

be

used to move money anonymously.

Fur ther Si lk Road used a so -ca l l ed tumbler to

process

Bitcoin

t r ansac t ions in a manner designed to f rus t r a t e

the t racking

of

9




indiv idua l

t r ansac t ions

through

the

Blockchain.

According

to

the

S i lk Road wiki , S i lk Road 's

tumbler sent

a l l payments

through

a complex, semi-random se r i e s of dummy t r ansac t ions ,

. making t

near ly

impossible to

l i n k

your payment with

any

coins

leaving the s i te . In other words, i f

a

buyer

made a

payment on

S i lk

Road, the tumbler obscured

any l i n k

between

the

buye r ' s B i t co in

address

and

the

vendor ' s Bi tco in

address

where

the Bi tco ins would

end

up making

t

f r u i t l e s s to use

the

Blockchain

to fol low the

money

t r a i l involved in the

t r ansac t ion , even

i f

the

buye r ' s

and vendor ' s

Bitcoin

addresses

were

both known. Based on my t r a in in g and exper ience , the

only

func t ion served by such tumblers i s to a s s i s t with the

l aunder ing of cr imina l proceeds.

RREST OF

ULBRICHT

ND RECOVERY OF EVIDENCE

FROM IS L PTOP COMPUTER

22. On o r

about

October

1,

2013,

Ross Ulbr ich t

was

a r r e s t e d

a t

a publ ic l i b r a ry in San Francisco , Cal i fo rn ia .

At

the

t ime of

h is

a r r e s t , Ulbr ich t was

us ing a

l ap top computer,

which was

secured by law enforcement agen ts ( the Ulbricht

Computer ) .

23. Pursuant to a search warrant , agen ts searched the

Ulbr ich t Computer

and

recovered, among othe r th ings , ex tens ive

evidence r e f l e c t i n g

U lb r i ch t ' s

opera t ion of Si lk Road, including

j ou rna l

e n t r i e s

and

logs of cha t

communicat ions

between Ulbr ich t

(referenced

in

the

cha t s as

myself )

and

various

co

consp i ra to rs .

24. Through the

journa l

e n t r i e s , Ulbr ich t descr ibed in

d e t a i l how he crea ted , designed, bu i l t ,

and

operated

Si lk

Road.

In a

journa l

en t ry dated 2011, Ulbr ich t wrote

about

the Si lk

Road's successful f i r s t

year in opera t ion ,

and

in the fol lowing

excerp t , descr ibed

how

Varie ty Jones provided

him

with

s i g n i f i c a n t advice

and

ass i s tance with opera t ing and managing

S i lk

Road:

2

Around

t h i s t ime, Var ie ty Jones showed up.

This was

the bigges t

and

s t ronges t w i l l ed

cha rac te r

I had

met through

the s i t e

thus

f a r . He

quickly proved to

m

t ha t he

had

value by

poin t ing

out a major s ecu r i t y hole

2

All quoted journa l

e n t r i e s

and

chat logs

are

repea ted verbat im

here in , inc lud ing

any er ro r s in spe l l ing ,

grammar

and

punctuat ion .

10




in the s i t e I

was

unaware

of . t was an

a t t a ck on bi t co ind .

e quickly began

discuss ing every aspec t

of

the

s i t e as wel l

as fu tu re ideas .

He

convinced me of

a

se rve r

conf igura t ion

paradigm

t ha t gave

me the

confidence

to

be the

so le se rve r

admin i s t ra to r

and

not

work

with

someone

e l s e

a t

a l l . He has advised me on many

t e chn ica l

aspec t

of

what

we

are doing,

helped me

speed

up

the s i t e

and squeeze more out

of my

cur ren t se rve rs . He a l so has helped me

be t t e r i n t e r a c t with the community around

S i lk Road, de l ive r ing proclamations ,

handl ing

t roublesome cha rac te r s ,

running a

sa le , changing my name,

dev is ing

ru les , and

on and on. He a l so helped me

ge t

my head

s t r a i g h t regard ing l ega l p ro tec t ion , cover

s to r i e s ,

dev is ing

a

w i l l ,

f inding

a

successor ,

and

so

on. He's been a

r ea l

mentor .

25. Among these chat logs were over a

thousand

pages of

cha t s between Ulbr ich t and

VJ

and

Cimon,

which ranged

from

in

o r about December 2011 through

in

o r about Apri l

2013. On

o r

about June 1, 2012, in the course

of

the cha t logs , VJ

indica ted ,

in sum and substance t ha t he was

no

longer us ing the

onl ine pseudonym Varie ty

Jones ,

and

agreed

to use the

pseudonym cimon going forward. Ove ral l , the chats re f l ec ted

t h a t VJ / Cimon ac t ed as an adv isor and conf idan t to Ulbr ich t ,

and

adv ised

Ulbr ich t

on

a

regu la r ba s i s

regard ing

various

aspec ts

of

opera t ing Si lk Road. From reviewing the contents

of

these

cha ts ,

I

have

a l so l earned , in sum and substance

and

in

par t ,

the

fo l lowing:

a .

VJ provided advice

to Ulbr ich t in developing a

cover s tory to

make

it appear as

i f

he had so ld Si lk Road,

cons i s ten t with

the

re fe rence in

the journa l ent ry , quoted

above

in paragraph 16.

For example:

i .

During a chat da ted December

9, 2011,

VJ

adv ised

Ulbr ich t

to

be

d i sc ree t

and

l imi t

the

number of people who know about h is

connect ion

to owning and opera t ing the

Si lk Road websi te ,

s t a t i n g , remember - someday it would

be very

valuab le

in fo rmat ion who

s t a r t e d

SR and the

person who knows the

guy

who

so ld

it on could

s e l l

t ha t

info

-

i f sena to rs a re bi t ch ing

and

11




DE i s i t ch ing , they 'd pay

7

f igure s

for info

leading

to the s i t e and you w i l l be

in te rv iewed someday

from

my l i p s

to your ea rs

be ready

for

it

.

one of

them

wil l someday

r e a l i z e

the re i s

l o t t e r y winning amounts

of

cash in giving you

up

as the c r ea to r of the

s i t e .

ii

During

the same

chat ,

VJ

asked

Ulbr ich t , in

sum

and substance, whether Ulbr ich t had

disc losed

to

anyone

in rea l l i f e

t h a t

he was

involved

in

S i lk Road: IRL

i s the re

anyone with

a

c lue

a t

a l l ?

Gir l f r i end , boyfr iend , bunny you

t a lk

to ,

onl ine buddy 's

who

you 've know fo r years?

Gramma,

pr i e s t , rabb i , s t r ipper? Ulbr ich t

responded, unfor tuna te ly yes .

They are

two,

but they th ink

I

so ld

the

s i t e

and

got out .

and

they

a re qu i t e

convinced

of

i t .

VJ

r ep l ied , good

fo r

t ha t when do

they

th ink

you 've so ld?

and

Ulbr ich t responded, about

a

month ago.

3

Based on my t ra in ing

and

exper ience ,

and

my f a m i l i a r i t y with t h i s

inves t iga t ion ,

I be l ieve

t ha t during t h i s

conversat ion ,

Ulbr ich t

disc losed

t ha t he had

t o ld two people

of

h is connect ion to Si lk Road,

but had

l i e d to them

by cla iming t ha t he had

sold

Si lk Road

to someone e l se .

iii In

a

cha t dated January

15,

2012, VJ asked

Ulbr ich t

whether

he

had

seen

the

movie

The

Pr incess Bride, and whether he knew the

hi s to ry

of

the

Dread P i r a t e

Rober t s .

4

VJ

3

During Ulbr ich t ' s t r i a l , a former f r i end

of

Ulbr ich t

( Fr iend-

1 )

t e s t i f i e d , in sum and substance, t ha t Ulbr ich t had

prev ious ly bragged to him

during

2011

t h a t

Ulbr ich t was involved

in crea t ing and running S i lk Road.

Further ,

Friend-1 t e s t i f i e d

t h a t on November

11, 2011 (approximate ly

one

month

p r i o r

to

the

quoted cha t

between VJ and

Ulbr i ch t ) , Ulbr ich t

t o ld

Friend-1

t h a t

he

was worried t ha t

U lb r i ch t ' s

g i r l f r i e n d had been care les s

with Ulbr ich t ' s

s ec r e t

t ha t he ran Si lk Road,

and

had so ld Si lk

Road to someone e l se .

4

The Pr incess Bride was

a

motion

p ic tu r e

t ha t was

re leased

in

1984. Based on my fami l i a r i ty with

the

f i lm, know t h a t the

f i lm por t rays the legend of the

Dread P i r a t e

Rober ts cha rac te r

as

bear ing a

name not belonging

a

s ing le

indiv idua l ,

but

12




exp la ined

the

legend of

the

cha rac te r Dread

P i r a t e Rober t s ,

how

over the years , a new one

would t ake

the

name, and the old one would

r e t i r e . VJ i n s i s t e d t h a t Ulbr ich t

should

change h is name on

the

Si lk Road websi te from

Admin,

to

Dread P i r a t e Rober ts

to

c lea r

your

old

t r a i l -

to

be

honest , as

t i gh t

as

you

play

th ings ,

you

are

the weak l i n k

from

those

two

prev

con tac t s .

Based

on y t ra in ing

and

exper ience , and y f a m i l i a r i t y

with

t h i s

inves t iga t ion , I

be l ieve t ha t ,

dur ing

t h i s

conversat ion ,

VJ suggested

t ha t Ulbr ich t adopt

the onl ine

pseudonym

Dread P i r a t e Rober ts on

S i lk

Road to

promote the l i e

he

had t o l d

others

t ha t he had

so ld

Si lk Road

to someone

e l s e

( c l ea r your

old

t r i a l

-

to

be honest .

you

are the

weak l i n k

from

those

two

prev

con tac t s . )

iv .

I

have reviewed

a

pos t from

the

Si lk

Road

Forum,

dated on o r about February 5, 2012, in

which

the

Admin account , known to be the

ch ie f admin i s t ra to r account fo r

Si lk

Road,

announced t ha t

my new name

i s :

Dread Pi ra te

Rober t s . Based on y

discuss ions

with

agents

involved in

a r r e s t i n g Ulbr ich t

on October

1,

2013

and y

review of

evidence

co l lec ted

from

h is a r r e s t by

an

FBI computer fo rens ic

examiner , I know

t ha t a t

the t ime of U lb r i ch t ' s

a r r e s t ,

Ulbr ich t

was

ac t i v e ly

logged

i n to

the

S i lk Road websi te as the Dread P i r a t e Rober ts

admin i s t ra to r account from h is laptop

computer .

b.

VJ a s s i s t e d with h i r i n g programmers

to

help with

improving

the

i n f r a s t ru c t u re of ,

and

main ta in ing Si lk Road. For

example:

belonging

to

a se r i e s of

i nd iv idua l s , each of

whom passes hi s

name and

repu ta t ion to

a

chosen successor .

13




v. In o r about

January

2012,

VJ

proposed to

Ulbr ich t t h a t he

h i re a

team of developers

to

help t e s t , improve, and main ta in the computer

code

fo r

the

S i lk Road webs i te . VJ suggested

t h a t

the

team be overseen

by a programmer who

he r e fe r red

to

in

the cha t s

as

Tex

•

v i .

By on o r

about

January 15, 2012,

VJ

i nd ica t ed

t ha t

the

programmer was a l ready working

on

t e s t i n g

the

code

under ly ing

the

Si lk Road

websi te , s t a t ing : I 'm meet ing with

Tex

in

a

few hours to

go over h is

progress , hi s l a s t

email a few hours

ago

i nd ica t ed h e s

got

a good

handle

on

th ings ,

and

w e l l be s t r e s s t e s t ing

t on igh t .

v i i .

On o r about

January

17,

2012, VJ

confirmed to

Ulbr ich t , in sum and subs tance ,

t h a t

the

programmer was aware t ha t the programming work

was

for

S i lk Road,

and

noted t ha t the

programmer shared VJ s dream

of breaking

the

DEA

[Drug

Enforcement Adminis t ra t ion]

1

c . VJ recommended s ecu r i t y improvements

to

the Si lk

Road

webs i te .

For

example,

in a

chat with

Ulbr ich t

dated

on o r

about

December

7, 2011,

VJ

noted t o ld Ulbr ich t t ha t was working

with you

f i r s t

to harden

your

systems

.

[w]hen w e re

done,

even g e t t i n g

the

se rve r w i l l give

them

nothing. enforce

encryp t ion on a l l order

i n fo

au tomat ica l ly

i f

not done by the

customer/vendor

d i t t o

with

PM's

both sender

and

rec ip

need

to have publ ic keys pos ted so only

they

can read

them

even

i f

the se rve r i s taken.

Based on my t ra in ing

and

experience,

and

my f a m i l i a r i t y with t h i s inves t iga t ion ,

I be l ieve

t ha t dur ing

t h i s conversat ion ,

VJ

recommended to Ulbr ich t add i t iona l

s ecu r i t y p r ac t i c e s ,

including requ i r ing t ha t

vendors

use

encryp t ion when sending de l ive ry addresses ,

so

t ha t

i f

law

enforcement was

ab le t o se i ze

and

image

the S i lk Road

se rvers ,

law enforcement

would

not have useab le in format ion with which

to

t a rg e t

Si lk

Road

use rs fo r buying

and

s e l l i ng

contraband.

d.

VJ communicated with

Ulbr ich t

regard ing the

ru l e s

t h a t

were

implemented

to

govern

the Si lk

Road

vendor

and

user

community. For example,

in

a

chat da ted on

o r about

December

28, 2011, Ulbr ich t and

VJ

discussed the ru les aga ins t out of

escrow payments on Si lk Road.

Based

on

my

t ra in ing

and

exper ience , and my

f a m i l i a r i t y

with

t h i s

inves t iga t ion ,

I

know

t h a t S i lk Road handled

payments

through i t s own

escrow

system,

r e ta ined

a

cu t

of

each

s a l e

of

na rco t i c s o r othe r cont raband as

14




a

commission. The ru le

aga ins t "out

of escrow" payments

forbade

customers from nego t i a t ing

a

sa le with

vendors , but

then

paying

fo r

the

contraband of f

the

Si lk Road system, thereby

circumvent ing the

escrow

system from

which commission

were

withdrawn. During the conversat ion , VJ

recommended

t ha t a

"bounty"

o r

payment

be

of fe red to the Si lk Road

community

to

repor t

vendors

who

sought

to

per form

t r ansac t ions

out

of

the

escrow system, and Ulbr ich t

confirmed

t ha t he l iked the idea.

e .

VJ a s s i s t e d Ulbr ich t

and provided advice

with

respec t

to promoting sa les on the Si lk Road webs i te .

Spec i f i ca l ly :

v i i i . In

a

cha t dated on o r about March 23,

2012,

VJ

and Ulbr ich t

discussed

an

upcoming

promotion on

S i lk Road,

to

occur

fo r t h ree

days around

Apri l

20, 2012,

ca l l ed

the "4/20 Sale . "

I

know,

based on y t ra in ing and exper ience , t ha t Apri l

20th i s observed

as

a counte rcul ture

hol iday ,

where drug users

ga the r t o

ce lebra t e and

consume

mariJuana. Ulbr ich t

provided

VJ

with

a

d ra f t announcement

fo r the

sa le , which

read:

"Rol l

up a

doobie and put

your

pa r ty hat on

because

the

bigges t

s tone r hol iday i s j u s t

around the

corner ,

and we've got a lo t

of

gan ja

to de l ive r

We're

pu l l ing out a l l the s tops to

ce lebra te 420 t h i s year .

S ta r t i n g

a t

4:20

p on

4/20/2012,

w e ' l l

be

giving away 420 pr izes

every 420 seconds

WOO Gif t cards , badass

consumer

e lec t ron ics ,

rea l

gangs ta

sh i t

And to

top

t a l l of f , we' re sending one lucky buyer

on

a

dream vaca t ion with a l l the t r immings

The

buzz

around t h i s i s going to

be

HUGE "

ix . Later in t ha t

conversat ion , VJ

and Ulbr ich t

discussed var ious d iscounts

and promotions t ha t

na rco t i c s vendors would o f fe r dur ing the course

of

the sa le . In response

to a

proposa l by

Ulbr ich t t ha t the

s i t e not

charge

commission

on

s a l e s

of

cont raband

during

the promotion,

VJ

objec ted ,

s t a t i n g " I ' d l i ke

to th ink we can

br ing more to

the

par ty

than

j u s t

dropped

commissions. We're f i l l i n g the pr i ze b a r r e l

a l ready." VJ

noted the

oppor tun i ty cos t

involved in

dropping

commissions,

i nd ica t ing

t ha t

they expected

approximately "a mil in

sa les . "

15




x. During a chat da ted

on

o r about May 3, 2012,

VJ

and Ulbr ich t d i scussed

the

grand

pr ize winner

of

the

4/20 sa le , who was awarded an a l l -

i nc lus ive paid t r i p to

Thai land,

including

approximate ly $4,000

in Uni ted Sta t e s

cur rency

in

spending money.

VJ informed

Ulbr ich t

t h a t

he

had

made

the

arrangements

for

the

Thai land

t r i p fo r

the winner, provided

the t rave l

i t i ne r a ry , and confirmed t ha t

the

t o t a l cos t t o

Si lk

Road

was approximate ly $30,000 in

Uni ted

Sta tes currency.

x i .

During

a

cha t

dated on

o r

about May 29,

2012,

VJ informed Ulbr ich t t h a t he was

concerned

about the grand

pr ize winner of the 4/20

sa le ,

because

of

hi s hero in

addic t ion ,

s t a t i n g ,

I 'm

worr ied about our winner he ' s t ry ing

to

dry

out . .

hero in

. .it s not working . .

and

I

th ink hi s recen t in f lux

of cash

d idn ' t

help .

.

he

t o ld

m

some

t ime

ago

he was t ry ing to

q u i t but SR make it kinda tough.ff VJ expressed

concern

t ha t the upcoming

t r i p

to

Thai land

(scheduled for

mid-July

2012) might

be

prob lemat ic ,

s t a t ing ,

I 'm

j u s t

worried

t ha t

it s

not

the kinda place you wanna get caught

t ry ing

to

score H

o r possess ing

i t . f f Ulbr icht

responded, shoulda thought more ca r e f u l l y

about

dropping

$4k on an

addic t

. . maybe our

next pr ize wi l l be 3 months in rehab.ff

f . VJ a l so provided ass i s tance and advice wi th

re spec t t o

the des ign

of

the Si lk

Road

marketplace and

re l a t ed

pro jec t s . For

example dur ing a

cha t

dated

on o r about December

8, 2011,

VJ provided advice

to Ulbr ich t

regard ing how

to reduce

the t ime it took

for

the home page

for

S i lk Road to

load

onto a

Tor browser,

and VJ

a l so ind ica t ed t ha t

he was

going to

under take a

comprehensive review

of

Si lk Road 's

design. VJ

wrote on a

browser r e s t a r t ,

s igned

in ,

got a

9.3 second

main

page load

. we ' l l have to look

a t

every

page

template

you

have, but it w i l l make a huge

di f fe rent . f f

g.

Further ,

VJ

provided

ass i s tance

with

inves t iga t ing the disappearance of a S i lk Road cus tomer suppor t

s t a f f employee, who used

the

on l ine

pseudonym Digi ta l

Alchemy,

o r DA.

For example, on o r about October

29,

2012, Ulbr ich t

and

VJ

(now us ing the

pseudonym

cimon ) discussed the

d isappearance of a

member of

the S i lk Road cus tomer

suppor t

s t a f f ,

who

used the use r

name

Digi ta l

Alchemy,

and was a l so

16




r e f e r r e d to as DA. During t ha t conversat ion , in sum

and

substance

and

among othe r

th ings ,

VJ discussed t ry ing to t r ack

down

DA's whereabouts, s t a t ing , Blunt ly I need to know i f

h e ' s gone of f

the

r a i l s , o r i s

simply

fucked

up.

Off

the r a i l s

scares

me.

Point

i s ,

I

th ink

in 10 days o r l e ss I can f ind him.

Don' t

want

to do a th ing, j u s t

watch,

l e a rn , and

be

care fu l .

This

i s

a

whole

nother

l eve l - - are

you

a l l

r igh t

with

th i s ,

o r

do

you want

me to pu l l i n

my

horns? Ulbr ich t responded, go

fo r it. it s a loose end. Later in

the

conversat ion , VJ

opined,

I th ink

someone got

to him not the cops the

compet i t ion , and l a t e r

s ta ted ,

Ha, dude, we' re c r imina l drug

dea le r s what l i ne shou ldn ' t we cross? Based

on

my t ra in ing

and exper ience , and my f a m i l i a r i t y with t h i s inves t iga t ion ,

be l ieve t h a t dur ing t h i s conversat ion , VJ

informed

Ulbr ich t t ha t

he was t ry ing to l oca t e DA who had disappeared, to ensure t ha t

he was not

cooperat ing

with law enforcement . Further ,

be l ieve

t h a t VJ confirmed his knowledge t h a t he and

Ulbr icht

were

engaged

in

an

i l l e g a l en te rp r i s e ,

involved

in

the

sa le

of

con t ro l l ed

subs tances

( Ha, dude, we're cr iminal

drug

dea le r s . )

.

26.

Another

f i l e recovered from

the Ulbr icht

Computer was

a

t e x t f i l e

l abe led log ,

r e f l e c t i n g

various ac t ions

he

took

on

var ious da tes in connect ion with

opera t ing

S i lk

Road.

Severa l

of the

log e n t r i e s

r e f e r to

VJ as

Cimon and the work VJ/Cimon

did fo r

Ulbr icht .

Among othe r

th ings , the

e n t r i e s included

the

fol lowing:

h.

An en t ry dated May

31,

2013, which s t a t e s ,

$50k

xfer red to

cimon.

Based

on

my

t ra in ing

and

exper ience,

and

my

f a m i l i a r i t y

with

t h i s inves t iga t ion ,

be l ieve

t ha t t h i s

ind ica tes

t ha t ,

on

o r about t ha t date , Ulbr ich t pa id VJ

approximate ly $50,000

in

exchange

fo r

h is

as s i s tance with

S i lk

Road.

i . An en t ry dated June 3, 2013, which s ta te s , put

cimon in charge of LE

counter

i n t e l . Based on my t ra in ing and

exper ience , and my

f a m i l i a r i t y with t h i s inves t iga t ion ,

be l ieve

t ha t in t h i s

post ,

Ulbr ich t i nd ica t ed t ha t VJ was in

charge of

counter

i n t e l l igence ( counter i n t e l ) on

the

e f fo r t s

t h a t

law

enforcement

( LE ) was

making

to

at tempt

to inves t iga te

Si lk

Road.

27.

Further , another f i l e recovered from the

Ulbr ich t

Computer was

a spreadsheet f i l e l abe led sr_account ing,

r e f l e c t i ng var ious Si lk Road re l a t ed

expenses.

These

inc luded

seve ra l add i t iona l

re fe rences

to payments

to

VJ (under

the

17




onl ine pseudonym

cimon ) ,

inc lud ing payments of approximately :

(1)

$93,150

in Uni ted

Sta t e s

cur rency on o r

about

November 16,

2012;

(2)

$50,000


cur rency on

o r

about

May 7,

2013;

and

(3)

$57,000


cur rency on o r about

Ju ly

3, 2013.

Ident i f i ca t i on of

ROGER

THOM S

CL RK

as Variety

Jones

a k a

VJ a k a Cimon a k a Plural

of

Mongoose

28. Based on

my

review of ch a t l ogs between

Ulbr ich t

and

var ious

co -co n s p i r a t o r s ,

I know t h a t Ulbr ich t requ i red s t a f f

members to

prov ide

a scanned

copy of

p erso n a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n

documents ,

in order

to

work fo r him as p a r t

of

the S i l k Road

en t e r p r i s e . Based on

my

review of the

con ten t s

of the

Ulbr ich t

Computer, I know

t h a t

t con ta ined a fo lde r l abe led

IDs , t h a t

con ta ined a number

of enc ryp ted

image

f i l e s ,

each

of

which

was

e n t i t l e d

wi th the

onl ine pseudonym o f a S i l k Road co

consp i ra to r .

29. I

have reviewed the

con ten t s

of

a

decryp ted

vers ion

of

the

image

f i l e

e n t i t l e d

cimon. jpg, which co n ta in s

a passpor t

i s sued

by

Canada fo r ROGER

THOM S

CLARK

l i s t s

h i s

d a te of

b i r t h

as September 13, 1961,

and

i nd ica t e s

t h a t

t

was i s su ed

in

the

Uni ted Kingdom

of

Great B r i t a in and Northern

I re l and

( UK ).

30. Based

on my review

of open

source

co rp o ra t e

records

fo r UK

b u s in es ses t h a t

I

found

on the In te rne t , I know t h a t

ROGER THOM S CL RK i s

l i s t e d

on a UK co rp o ra t e f i l i n g fo r a UK

based company ca l l ed Gypsy Nirvana Limited, which i nd ica t e s

t h a t

Thomas

Clark

was

a

d i r e c t o r

o f the

company,

and

l i s t s

him

as a Canadian na t iona l , born on September

13, 1961.

In a chat

recovered from the Ulbr ich t Computer dated June 28, 2012,

cimon

informed Ulbr ich t

t h a t cimon had

crea ted

the Gypsy

Nirvana nic , and t h a t a

guy

in England s t a r t e d

a seed

biz

us ing my name,

and

me promo' ing t

in

publ i c .

Based

on my

t r a in in g

and

exper ience , and

my

f ami l i a r i t y wi th

t h i s

i n v e s t i g a t i o n , I bel i eve

t h a t

in t h i s conversa t ion , cimon

admi t ted

to

be ing invo lved wi th

Gypsy

Nirvana

Limi ted ,

which, as

noted above, was

a

UK-based company

fo r

which

CL RK

se rved as

a

d i r e c t o r .

31.

Fur ther ,

on

o r

about

Apri l

21, 2015, a

coopera t ing

wi tness ( CW-1 )

5

adv ised law enforcement , in substance and

in

5

CW-1

has been

charged with

f ed e ra l cr imes fo r h i s p a r t i c i p a t i o n

and

involvement

wi th

S i l k

Road, and

i s coopera t ing with law

enforcement

in the hopes

of

obta in ing a coopera t ion

agreement

wi th

the Government,

and

ul t ima te ly l en iency a t the t ime

t h a t

18




p a r t ,

t ha t

Roger

Clark

i s the

indiv idua l

who

used

the

onl ine

nicknames

Varie ty Jones , VJ, in connect ion with Si lk

Road,

which corresponds to the name

on

the

i de n t i f i c a t i on

documents

recovered

from the

Ulbr ich t

Computer,

and t ha t Roger

Clark

has

a l so

used

the

nickname

Gypsy Nirvana . Further ,

CW-1

t o ld law

enforcement,

in

sum

and substance and in

par t ,

the

fol lowing

about

Roger

Clark ,

which i s

cons i s ten t

wi th

di sc losure s made

by VJ / Cimon in

chat

logs recovered

from

the Ulbr ich t

Computer:

j Roger

Clark a l so used

the

onl ine

nickname

Mongoose. The cha t logs recovered from

the

Ulbr ich t Computer

include

a June

28,

2012

cha t between Ulbr ich t and

Cimon in

which Cimon

i nd ica t ed t ha t

Cimon

has a l so used

the

nickname

Plura l of Mongoose

( I

was,

and

am

Plura l of Mongoose.

Folks

who

know and love me,

it s

Mongoose. ) .

k . Roger

Clark

i s a Canadian

na t iona l t ha t

had

prev ious ly l ived

in the UK.

As noted above in paragraph 21,

the

scanned ve rs ion

of the

ROGER THOMAS CLARK passpor t recovered

from

the

Ulbr ich t Computer ind ica tes t ha t he i s

a

Canadian

na t iona l ,

and

t ha t h is passpor t

was

i s sued in the

UK.

This i s

f u r th e r

cor robora ted by cha t logs recovered

from

the Ulbr ich t

Computer, which ind ica te t ha t : (1) on o r

about

May

17,

2012,

VJ

informed Ulbr ich t t ha t he

was fac ing

depor t a t ion

proceedings in the UK; (2) on

o r

about June 28,

2012,

Cimon

informed Ulbr ich t t ha t

he would

be depor ted to

Canada i f

the

proceedings

did

not

go

favorab ly

fo r him; and

(3) on

o r

about

Ju ly 6, 2012,

Cimon

informed Ulbr ich t t ha t UK a u t h o r i t i e s

agreed

to

l e t

him

depar t

v o lu n t a r i l y

from

the

UK.

1. Roger Clark

was

l i v in g in Thai land. Chat logs

recovered

from

the Ulbr ich t

Computer

inc lude mul t ip le re fe rences

to

Cimon l i v in g

in Thai land by in o r about September 2012,

and

through a t

l e a s t

February

2013.

6

CW-1 i s sentenced. Informat ion provided

by

CW-1 about Si lk Road

and

ROGER

THOMAS

CLARK

a /k /a

Varie ty Jones ,

a /k /a

VJ,

a /k /a

Cimon,

a /k /a

Plura l

of

Mongoose, the

defendant ,

i s

cons i s ten t

with evidence

co l lec ted

from

the

Ulbr ich t

Computer

( including evidence

ind ica t ing tha t CW-1 and CLARK had

personal

dea l ings with each o ther ) ,

publ i c ly ava i lab le

in fo rmat ion

about

UK corpora t ions , and in fo rmat ion recovered from

the

Si lk Road

se rve rs .

6

The

cha t logs

between

Ulbr ich t and VJ / Cimon terminate on o r

about Apri l

3,

2013. Pr io r

to t he i r

t e rmina t ion , the re are

19




32. Accordingly, I

be l ieve

t h a t the adv isor and confidant

who worked with Ulbr ich t on Si lk Road and went

by

the on l ine

nicknames Varie ty Jones , VJ, and Cimon

i s

ROGER THOMAS

CLARK

a / k / a Varie ty Jones , a /k /a VJ, a / k / a

Cimon,

a /k /a

Plura l

of

Mongoose,

the

defendant .

WHEREFORE I r e s p ec t f u l l y

reques t

t h a t

an a r r e s t

warrant be

i s sued for ROGER THOMAS

CLARK

a / k / a

Varie ty Jones ,

a /k /a

VJ, a /k /a Cimon, a /k /a Plura l of Mongoose, the defendant ,

and t ha t he be

a r r e s t e d

and

imprisoned or ba i l ed ,

as the case

may

be.

Sworn to

before

me t h i s

17th

day of

December,

,2015

· , / ~ / , (

t c

HONORABLE

FRANK MAAS

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Specia l

Agent

In te rna l

Revenue

Serv ice

re fe rences to

swi tch ing over

to

a d i f f e r e n t onl ine

cha t

program,

ca l l ed Pidg in , which was not logged

on the

Ulbr ich t Computer.

20
