Threat Management, Network Security

Former agent sentenced to 71 months for stealing in Silk Road probe

Shaun Bridges, the former Secret Service agent who pleaded guilty to stealing $820,000 worth of Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation, was sentenced in federal court to 71 months in prison.

Bridges was indicted in March along with DEA agent, Carl Force, who was accused of creating false identities during the Silk Road investigation in order to extort silk road founder, Ross Ulbricht, out of nearly $235,000. 

The government asked the court to give Bridges a "lengthy sentence" in parity with the sentence given the former agent's cohort Force. "As the Court is aware, Force was sentenced to a term of incarceration of 78 months, which was the mid-point of his Guidelines range," according to sentencing guidelines documents filed by the government. "The United States believes that a term of incarceration of 71 months in this case is the appropriate sentence given Bridges' egregious conduct on the same task force."

On sentencing Bridges, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg called his crime “extremely serious” since it included “the betrayal of public trust from a public official,” according to a Daily Mail report. Noting that the crime appeared to be “motivated by greed, Seebord said that while he typically didn't impose high-end sentences, “no departure or variance is warranted in this case.”

After serving his sentence, Bridges will be under supervised release for three years, the judge ruled.

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