Two New York residents were sentenced this week for selling and conspiring to transfer false identification documents on darknet markets AlphaBay Market and Dream Market.
Authorities said they were able to forfeit approximately $134,881 in U.S. currency, 285 ounces of silver, 4 ounces of gold, 22 prepaid Visa (NYSE:V) gift cards and 14.78 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) — equivalent to over $653,000 as of press time
What Happened: Defendants Andrea Alessandrini and Evan Hayes sold New York state driver’s licenses, fraudulent identity information, credit card holograms and ATM skimmers from at least from May 2015 until October 2017, according to a Wednesday Department of Justice press release.
On Tuesday the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California sentenced the 28-year-old Hayes to 18 months in prison and 34-year-old Alessandrini to 20 months in prison for identity fraud conspiracy. They pleaded guilty on Nov. 16, 2020 and July 12, 2021 respectively.
Alessandrini was responsible for creating and operating the vendor account PlasticA on multiple deep web marketplaces — including AlphaBay Market and Dream Market. The two sold over 300 fraudulent New York identity cards, four social security cards, 15 false birth certificates, 28 state identity card holograms, one ATM skimmer and 410 stolen or fraudulently produced identity packages.
Hayes, on the other hand, produced and mailed most of the fraudulent documents sold, according to the Justice Department.
On AlphaBay Market alone, the two were able to conduct between $250,000 and $400,000 in transactions between May 2015 and October 2017.
The United States was also able to seize evidence about the fake documents created and sold and shared this information with law enforcement agencies for use in additional investigations.
© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.