Former Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges was handed a 71-month prison sentence for fraud he perpetrated over the course of the Silk Road investigation.
Bridges allegedly used the credentials taken from an arrested Silk Road employee, Curtis Green, to transfer $820,000 worth of Bitcoin to his personal account on bitcoin Exchange MtGox, and from there, to a Fidelity account.
In August, he pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice. He reached a plea deal with prosecutors in June. He had potentially faced a maximum of 20 years in jail.
Judge Richard Seeborg, who presided over the case in the District Court for San Francisco, sided with the prosecution who sought a 71-month sentence. Bridges’ defense team pushed for 3 years. Ars Technica reports that during the sentencing, the defense brought Bridges' former boss and his wife to speak on his behalf. Seeborg admonished the defense for the move, but allowed them to speak.
In siding with the prosecution, he remarked, “From what I can see, it was motivated by greed. No departure or variance is warranted in this case.”
Bridges also addressed the court, accepting full responsibility for his actions and saying that they cost him and his family dearly: “I want it to be clear that I accept full responsibility. My wife has lost everything, she went to college to go to law enforcement and now she has lost it all. I just wanted to apologize to everybody.”
The other federal agent charged for fraud during the Silk Road investigation, Carl Force IV, was handed a 6 ½ year prison sentence in October.
Fallout from the takedown of the biggest online drug bazaar in history, which was powered by bitcoin, continues. The alleged adviser to Silk Road’s convicted operator was recently arrested in Thailand.
