Man going to prison for selling drugs on 'dark web'
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man is going to federal prison for five years for a conviction stemming from the Justice Department's first undercover operation targeting dark web drug sales.
Sam Bent, of St. Johnsbury, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington. His cousin also faces sentencing.
The Justice Department announced last year that they were among 35 people from across the country charged in its investigation. The dark net is a part of the internet often used by criminals that is hosted within an encrypted network and accessible only through anonymity-providing tools.
The Bents pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to distribute drugs in deals arranged via the dark web and paid for with Bitcoin. The drugs were mailed from post offices in Vermont and northern New Hampshire.