B.C. man faces extradition to the U.S. for alleged operations on Silk Road website

A Vancouver antheral accused of cause trafficking and wealth laundering done a website connected the acheronian web is present warring extradition to the United States.

According to the United States District Court, from astir November 2011 up to astir September 2013, James Ellingson sold “large quantities of narcotics done the ‘Silk Road’ online marketplace nether the Silk Road usernames ‘MarajuanaIsMyMuse’ (MMIM) and ‘Lucydrop’.”

Previously, U.S. prosecutors described Silk Road, which was unopen down successful 2013, arsenic “an unprecedented one-stop online buying promenade wherever the proviso of drugs was virtually limitless, enabling astir 4,000 cause dealers to grow their markets from the sidewalk to cyberspace, selling drugs connected a never-before-seen standard to much than 100,000 buyers successful markets stretching from Argentina to Australia, from the United States to Ukraine.”

Ellingson appeared successful Vancouver Supreme Court connected Monday with the Crown outlining grounds that helium had entree to a username and password for the website successful his idiosyncratic email and was a main relation of the site.

Crown alleged that precocious unsealed tribunal documents from the U.S. amusement MMIM sold drugs online paid for successful Bitcoin. The Bitcoin past was sent allegedly done intermediaries to a crypto speech trading relationship managed by Ellingson.

The defence argued that determination is nary nonstop grounds of narcotics income done the website and the facts and instrumentality bash not enactment the petition for extradition.

Ultimately, if the justice agrees to extradition, it is the curate of justness and lawyer wide of Canada who volition marque the last decision.

Ellingson. 49, is facing 3 counts successful U.S. territory tribunal for cause trafficking and wealth laundering.

Silk Road laminitis Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to beingness successful situation successful 2015 for moving the underground online marketplace.

U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Ulbricht connected Jan. 21, 2025, penning connected his societal media platform, Truth Social, “The scum that worked to convict him were immoderate of the aforesaid lunatics who were progressive successful the modern time weaponization of authorities against me.”