A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for conspiring to distribute narcotics on the dark web.
William James Farber, 43, of Los Angeles, was sentenced on Thursday to four years and nine months in prison for a conspiracy to distribute narcotics, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Farber and his co-conspirators, operating under the name PureFireMeds, sold narcotics including marijuana, cocaine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, psilocybin, MDMA (Ecstasy), LSD, and ketamine on dark web marketplaces, including Silk Road.
After Silk Road was shut down by law enforcement in October 2013, Farber and his co-conspirators began selling on the AlphaBay dark web marketplace under the name HumboldtFarms. It became one of the largest vendors on AlphaBay, completing tens of thousands of orders for marijuana on the site to customers throughout the United States.
This case was the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Bakersfield Police Department with assistance from the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey A. Spivak and Ross Pearson prosecuted the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Farber’s co-conspirators were not identified in the press release.
Mandatory Facts:
- Defendant: William James Farber
- Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics
- City and State: Los Angeles, California
- Date: Thursday, (no specific date mentioned)
- Sentence: Four years and nine months in prison
- No dollar amount mentioned.
Related Federal Cases
- Gregory Luptak, Narcotics Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2024 · California
- Luis Martinez, Narcotics Distribution, Connecticut 2018 · Connecticut
- Quamain Simms-Calhoun, Drug Conspiracy, New York 2023 · California
- Vicente Velazquez, Methamphetamine Trafficking, California 2023 · Idaho
- Alecia Trapps, Methamphetamine and Heroin Trafficking, California 2021 · New York
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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