C.L Martin
Two men were sentenced to a combined total of 34 years in prison for leading a $2.8 million dark web drug trafficking operation.
According to court documents, from at least 2013, 39-year-old Khlari Sirotkin of Colorado and 39-year-old Sean Deaver of Nevada, led a five-member drug trafficking operation that distributed large quantities of drugs through the “Pillcosby” and “Slanggang” vendor profiles on multiple dark web marketplaces.
The two men and their co-defendants distributed large quantities of counterfeit oxycodone pills, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine through dark web marketplaces such as Dream, Wall Street, and Empire. They also distributed the drugs through Wickr under the username “Slanggangcentral.”
The case against the defendants stemmed from investigations that were part of Operation Disruptor. From April 2018 to late 2019, the investigators made multiple undercover purchases from the defendant’s vendor profiles. The investigators also seized multiple drug packages mailed by the defendants and their accomplices.
The investigations revealed that the defendants run a large-scale counterfeit oxycodone pill production operation. The investigators established that the defendants used PayPal accounts and credit cards in their names to purchase equipment for their pill production lab from merchants on eBay and Amazon.
They reportedly distributed over 1 million of the fentanyl-laced pills. Deaver and Sirotkin used Gmail accounts to keep records of the profits they made from the drug trafficking operation.
The investigators also established that the defendants used accounts under their names on Coinbase, Binance, and other cryptocurrency exchanges to cash out over $2.8 million acquired from the drug sales.
The defendants were charged in a 21-count indictment filed in November 2019. Their arrests in December 2019 resulted in the seizure of 2.5 kilograms of fentanyl; 5,095 Xanax pills; 50 suboxone pills; 16.5 grams of cocaine; 37 grams of meth; 12 grams of heroin; and more than 2,300 kilograms of marijuana. The investigators also seized an industrial pill press, $80,191 in cash, and 10 firearms.
They each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and sale of counterfeit drugs. Deaver was sentenced to 18 years in prison in August 2023. Sirotkin received 16 years in prison on October 11, 2023.
