First In The USA: 17 BTC To Be Given Up As Sentence
First in the USA history a criminal was pleaded guilty and the court fined him over 16 BTC. In the sentence script the amount mentioned is close to 17 BTC to be given up. 16.9 to be correct. Christopher Bania faced the court earlier this year for drug distribution in Darknet and was pleaded guilty. The total amount is around $150,000 in fiat currency.
Almost 17 BTC to be given up? Not That Much!
It seems to be a lot – 17 BTC to be given up. But in reality it is just a small part of what Bania owned. The court in Wisconsin decided that Bania has to give up 16.91880054 BTC, charged from his account. It is a huge amount around $153,100. But it is almost nothing compared to the sum that is to be returned to the defendant. Along with other cryptos the defendant will get back 124 BTC. In addition he will getback some fiat currency in cash. This amount was collected at the Bania’s residence after his arrest.
Bania was charged not just with importation of controlled substances and money laundering. Another point – a drug possession with intent to distribute it later on. He used the Darknet and worked over a well-organized network of agents. In total it can lead to 20 years of jail sentence if not more. It was established that he was selling marijuana, cocaine, MDMA and LSD using the Darknet. It was an efficient way to distribute the drugs. He was working not alone but the whole network is still in the shade. Bania, however, continues to deny the fact that he was involved in the distributing the methamphetamines, heroin and cocaine. Though the police found huge amounts of the substances in his house.
Everything started from two packages from Belgium which contained huge amount of drugs. So the authorities took a closer look at Bania’s dealings. They traced transactions and found out that there were a huge and well-developed network. They were working through the Darknet. It is not the first case when criminals were sentenced for using Darknet but the first one when a person was changed in cryptocurrency, near 17 BTC to be given up.
