Co-Creator of Dark Web Marketplace “Empire Market” Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison

Raheim Hamilton, co-creator of Empire Market, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for running a dark web marketplace that handled more than $430 million in illegal transactions.

The 30-year-old Suffolk, Virginia, resident also received a $5 million fine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed the sentence in Chicago on Monday, October 5. Hamilton pleaded guilty earlier this year to a drug conspiracy charge.

The Justice Department announced the sentence on October 7, marking a major development in the case against the marketplace’s operators.

Empire Market Co-creator Sentenced

Hamilton and Thomas Pavey operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020, enabling more than four million transactions between buyers and vendors. Alongside drugs, the platform offered stolen account credentials, personally identifying information, counterfeit currency, and computer hacking tools.

Drug sales dominated the business, reaching nearly $375 million in net sales. Authorities reported sales of at least approximately 13.3 kilograms of fentanyl, 446.7 kilograms of cocaine, 72 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 103.4 kilograms of heroin over the marketplace’s lifetime.

Cybersecurity News previously covered the charges against Empire Market’s founders in June 2024. That report described a site reached through anonymizing software and an address ending in “.onion,” with product categories including “Fraud” and “Software & Malware.”

These categories show that the marketplace supported both drug trafficking and the trade in material used for cybercrime.

According to prosecutors in the announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Hamilton and Pavey designed the platform to help users avoid law enforcement and launder money from illegal transactions.

All purchases had to use cryptocurrency. The operators encouraged buyers and vendors to use tumbling and mixing services to conceal cryptocurrency transactions and encryption to protect their communications.

Buyers could also rate vendors on how well they hid drugs during shipping. This made concealment part of the marketplace’s review system, rather than simply a private concern for individual sellers.

Hamilton agreed to forfeit approximately 1,230 bitcoin, 24.4 Ether, and three Virginia properties. These forfeitures are separate from the $5 million fine imposed at sentencing.

Pavey, 41, of Ormond Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty last year to a federal drug conspiracy charge and admitted helping create and operate Empire Market. His sentencing is scheduled for later this month before Judge Seeger. The sentence does not resolve Pavey’s pending punishment.

Pavey agreed to forfeit approximately 1,584 bitcoin, two boxes containing 25-ounce gold bars, three vehicles, and two Florida properties.

The case involved the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations.

For cybersecurity readers, the stolen credentials and hacking tools distinguish Empire Market from a drug-only operation: its listings also served the wider market for stolen data and cybercrime resources.

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