Gal Vallerius, a suspected darknet market moderator on Dream Market who goes by the pseudonym "OxyMonster," has apparently moved to have his December court hearing rescheduled to early 2018.
Authorities took Vallerius into custody after arresting him in an Atlanta, Georgia-based airport.
In a statement by Vallerius' lawyer, the office of the Southern District of Florida Prosecutor brought forth a case which involved "all if the complexity" of the internet.
The presiding judge in the case subsequently granted Vallerius' defense team their request.
With the details of this case growing more unusual by day, the defense team will now have ample time to prepare for an exclusive 15-day hearing scheduled for January.
In the brief hearing, presided over by Judge Robert. N. Scola, Jr., the suspect's lawyer observed and explained to the court that there is a significant difference between the French and the U.S. judicial systems.
The lawyer, Anthony J. Natale, indicated that they would be forced to seek the services of a computer technician for them to fully understand the evidence gathered by the U.S. law enforcers.
Based on this, the judge granted their request after acknowledging that they had genuinely filed the petition for additional time not to drag the case, but in good faith only.
Although Natale had initially pushed for the case to be delayed up to May, the presiding judge decided that it would be best for the concerned parties to meet on January 16 to conclude when the hearing would officially commence.
According to reports, the trial will carry on for 15 days and, as such, could begin as soon as January 22. This gives Natale and his team a few weeks to establish their defense case supporting the innocence of their client, Gal Vallerius.
Moreover, in arguing his case to have the date rescheduled, the lawyer also told the presiding judge that U.S. authorities planned to later unveil "additional information."
Vallerius was arrested by authorities from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in August at an airport in Atlanta.
He, a French National, was destined to attend a beard competition in Texas when the authorities apprehended him.
They seized some of his belongings including his laptop which, as per the court documents, carried sufficient evidence which proved that the suspect was not only a vendor but also served as a moderator on the darknet marketplace Dream Market.
According to the authorities and agents behind this investigation, Vallerius worked on Dream Market under the alias "OxyMonster."According to the official criminal complaint, Vallerius allegedly auctioned drugs including fentanyl on both Dream and TradeRoute, another darknet market.
The suspect is also believed to have operated various accounts on the dark web, including Dream Market and , plus several now-defunct dark web markets like , , , TradeRoute and .
What's more, before adopting the pseudonym "OxyMoster," the suspect is said to have operated under the alias "Vendeep."
Since the arrest in August, the U.S. DEA and French authorities have been closely working together to seize all of Vallerius' overseas properties.
As earlier mentioned, the authorities recovered a laptop from Vallerius that had a Bitcoin wallet holding approximately $500,000 in Bitcoin together with exclusive details linking him to the Dream Market profile under investigation.
French authorities raided his overseas properties, among them his Plusquellec home where they were able to collect cocaine packed in bags and a lump sum of 50,000 euros.
Moreover, under the request of the presiding judge at the Florida-based court, the French authorities also seized his other houses located in Plouray and Saint-Guen.
The suspect is also believed also to own another home in Crete.
By the time of Vallerius' arrest in August, Dream Market, which had considerably benefitted from the recent shutdown of its competitors, boasted a whopping 94,236 listings.
However, this success could subsequently come crashing down and possibly result in the total shutdown of Dream Market if Vallerius is proven to be the platform's lead administrator.
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