Programmers get years in prison for drug market websites

On Thursday the court in Utrecht sentenced 5 people to up to 6 years in prison for involvement in two illegal marketplaces, various drug transactions and an arms deal. A programmer from Enschede built the drug trade website.

The men sold drugs or acted as moderators on the illegal trade website Black Market Reloaded. Black Market Reloaded replaced the site Utopia after it was removed.

Two 30 year old programmers from Utrecht and Enschede were sentenced to one year probation plus 240 hours of community service and a 2.5 years prison sentence, respectively. They were paid at least 12,500 euro in bitcoins for building the site Utopia. They also appear to be shareholders for future revenue of the site.

A 22 year old German received the highest penalty of six years in prison. A 47 year old man from Woerden got 5 years in prison, though the Public Prosecutor demanded 7. According to the court there was no evidence that the man ordered a hit on a police infiltrator in addition to his drug trafficking.

A 32 year old comrade of the programmer form Enschede who helped the man from Woerden with the supply of arms and drugs, got 1.5 years in prison, of which six months is probationary.