Thailand extradites ‘right-hand man of Silk Road founder’ to US

Thailand on Friday extradited a Canadian man, who the US says was the right-hand man of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, to the US Department of Justice. The 56-year-old man, named Roger Thomas Clark, is suspected of supporting Ulbricht.

Clark, allegedly behind names such as Variety Jones and Cimon, was “a confidant of Ulbicht who advised him on all aspects of running Silk Road,” the ministry said. He would also have been responsible for hiring and managing people who contributed to the development of the technical infrastructure of the well-known internet marketplace. He is also said to have received “at least hundreds of thousands of dollars” for his services.

The man is suspected of various offenses, including selling drugs via the internet and money laundering. He would face a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted. The maximum penalty is life.

Clark was arrested by Thai police in 2015. Just over a year ago, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s appeal was dismissed, upholding his previous life sentence. The illegal Silk Road marketplace was only accessible via Tor and a lot of drugs were traded. At the end of 2013, the American justice system rolled up the site. Ulbricht was also known as ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’.