A man from Massillon, Ohio has been indicted by a federal court on charges of selling several types of controlled substances on Dream Market and Empire Market.
The indictment alleges that the defendant, Landon Thomas Willoughby, conducted his business between October 2018 to February this year.
The 'Drug House' Operation
Willoughby, 25, was accused of selling drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin, but he also faces charges for operating a drug house and possessing firearms.
The charges include attempted distribution of methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distributing controlled substances by means of the internet, possession of firearms, and maintaining drug-involved premises.
Willoughby was indicted on one count each for these charges.
According to the indictment from the Northern District of Ohio, Willoughby conspired with several other accomplices to create vendor accounts on darknet markets.
he marketplaces of their choice included Empire Market and Dream Market.
From these two platforms, Willoughby allegedly sold methamphetamine, heroin, Valium, Xanax and Klonopin.
In order to protect the identity of the conspirators by using encryption, Willoughby used VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).
The indictment goes on to allege that Willoughby used Bitcoin to launder the drug profits, and he distributed the supply to customers via the U.S. postal system.
This is just one of the many cases where darknet drug dealers use government-owned postal systems to deliver drugs. For distribution purposes, Willoughby also employed private carriers.
Willoughby allegedly manufactured, stored and distributed methamphetamine and the other drugs from his home in Massillon.
The defendant also possessed a 20-gauge Mossberg shotgun, a Smith & Wesson pistol, and a Hi-Point 380 pistol. The ownership of these firearms was also included in the indictment.