Security News > 2020 > January > AlphaBay Moderator Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Charge

A former moderator for the now-defunct AlphaBay darknet marketplace site pleaded guilty this week to a federal racketeering charge and could face 20 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

As a moderator on the AlphaBay site, Herrell settled over 20,000 disputes between vendors and purchasers, according to court papers.

As part of the operation, the federal agencies raided the house of AlphaBay's top administrator, Alexandre Cazes, who was then detained by police in Thailand.

On the laptop, police found passwords and passkeys for the AlphaBay site and its servers as well as the online identities of individuals associated with the site, federal prosecutors say.

As illegal activities continue to thrive on darknet portals, law enforcement agencies around the world have been attempting to shut down the sites and arrest suspected administrators.

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