Empire Market co-creator Raheim Hamilton ('Sydney', 'ZeroAngel') sentenced to 40 years in US federal prison over the dark web market that handled about US$430 million in sales from 2018 to 2020, including stolen credentials and hacking tools
BleepingComputer reported on 8 October 2026 that Raheim Hamilton, 30, who co-created and ran the Empire Market dark web marketplace from August 2017 until it went offline in 2020 amid extortion DDoS attacks and exit-scam claims, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison, citing the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Empire facilitated more than 4 million transactions worth about US$430 million; drugs made up nearly US$375 million, but the site also sold counterfeit currency, stolen account credentials, hacking tools and personal information. At its peak in August 2020 it had about 1.68 million registered users, over 5,000 vendors and nearly 360,000 buyers. Hamilton pleaded guilty in January and agreed to forfeit three Virginia properties, about 1,230 bitcoin and 24.4 ether; co-defendant Thomas Pavey ('Dopenugget') pleaded guilty last year and is due to be sentenced later this month. Authorities seized about US$75 million in cryptocurrency when the pair were charged in July 2024. Primary: US Department of Justice (USAO Northern District of Illinois); wire: BleepingComputer.
- Product
- Empire Market (dark web marketplace)
- Versions
- n/a
- Exploited in Australia?
- unknown
- Patch to
- No action needed. Context for defenders: markets like this resell stolen credentials and access, so breach response should still assume leaked credentials are traded.
Primary: US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois — Co-creator of dark web marketplace sentenced to 40 years in federal prison · BleepingComputer — Owner of Empire cybercrime market gets 40 years in prison (8 Oct 2026)