A Golden Finance report states that federal prosecutors in Illinois have charged Thomas Pavey and Raheim Hamilton with operating the darknet market Empire Market. The prosecution alleges that between 2018 and 2020, they conducted transactions totaling $430 million through the platform, allowing users to anonymously purchase drugs and stolen credit card information using cryptocurrency. The two were previously detained for selling counterfeit currency on another darknet market, AlphaBay. The new charges include drug trafficking, computer fraud, forgery, and money laundering, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Law enforcement agencies seized $75 million worth of cryptocurrency, as well as cash and precious metals, during the investigation.