Secret Service Agent Gets Extra Jail Time Over Theft of Silk Road Bitcoin

A former U.S. Secret Service agent has been sentenced to an additional prison term on charges associated with his theft of bitcoin seized from now-defunct dark market Silk Road.

Shaun W. Bridges, who pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in bitcoin during the U.S. government’s investigation of Silk Road, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to a 24-month prison term yesterday by U.S. district judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco.

Judge Seeborg ordered the sentence to be served consecutively with jail time Bridges is currently serving for the theft of the bitcoin. He further ordered Bridges to pay a penalty of 1,500 bitcoins and other fiat currency that roughly totals $10.4 million in value, according to a press release.

Bridges had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges, following admitting using a private key to access a digital wallet belonging to the U.S. government and transferring 1,600 BTC to wallets he controlled.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s San Francisco Division, IRS-CI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office Cyber Crimes Unit, among other agencies.

Bridges was originally arrested in 2015 for the bitcoin theft, and was later arrested in February 2016 as he tried to leave the U.S. before beginning his prison term. Later, court filings stated that Bridges stole additional Silk Road funds after having pleaded guilty to the first charges.

Wooden gavel image via Shutterstock