14 DAY TRIAL // Shaun Bridges, a former special agent with the US Secret Service has pleaded guilty to money laundering and obstruction of justice in relation to the Silk Road investigation.
Previously, at the start of July, former DEA agent Carl Force, which was also accused of stealing Bitcoin from Silk Share, has also pleaded guilty to money laundering charges related to his theft of over $700,000 / €620,000 in digital cryptocurrency while an undercover agent in the Silk Road case.
Bridges stole Bitcoin worth $820,000 / €726,000
Back in January 2013, when Silk Road admin Curtis Green was arrested, Bridges obtained Green's admin credentials during his interrogation.
He used these credentials to access the Silk Road backend, lock other users out of their accounts, and transfer their Bitcoin into his own Mt. Gox account, an online cryptocurrency exchange portal.
Prosecutors say he used this technique to move 20,000 Bitcoin, worth at that time around $350,000 / €310,000. When Bridges liquidated his Mt. Gox account later in May 2013, he gained $820,000 / €726,000 from the stolen Bitcoin.
These later funds he transferred to a Fidelity account he controlled, registered to Quantum International Investments LLC.
Bridges also tried to cover up his tracks
Besides the money laundering charge, Bridges was also accused of obstruction of justice, to which he pleaded guilty to.
According to the Department of Justice, Bridges admitted to giving false and misleading statements into the government's investigation of his own theft.
He also admitted to trying to convince a colleague to lie to investigators, and also impeding the investigation from " fully utiliz(ing) a cooperator’s access to Silk Road."
Bridges' sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 7, 2015, while Carl Force's sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 19, 2015.
Bridges also entered a plea agreement, which includes sentencing recommendations, probably lower due to the fact that he confessed his crimes. The maximum penalty for money laundering is 20 years, the same as for obstruction of justice.
