'OxyMonster' Pleads Guilty To Selling Drugs On Dark Web

MIAMI, FL — A French citizen dubbed "'OxyMonster" has pleaded guilty to selling drugs over the dark web and assisting other sellers to do the same. Gal Vallerius, who is better known by his online moniker, entered the plea on Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. Federal prosecutors said Vallerius served both as an administrator and senior moderator of one of the largest dark web criminal marketplaces.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money. Undercover agents made four separate drug buys over the dark web, including LSD, hydrocodone and crystal methamphetamine. The drugs were shipped to Miami, which is why Vallerius is facing charges in Florida.

"Beginning in or around November 2013 a criminal online marketplace known as Dream Market began operating on the Tor 'dark web' network. Dream Market was designed to promote and facilitate the anonymous sale of illegal items," prosecutors said. Also known as the Onion Router, Tor is a network of computers around the world that are designed to conceal the IP addresses of users.

"In time, the Dream Market website became one of the largest dark web criminal marketplaces," according to prosecutors. "All of the items and services on Dream Market were offered for sale in exchange for Bitcoin and other peer-to-peer crypto-currencies."

U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of Miami announced the plea on Tuesday along with Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Adolphus P. Wright of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Miami Field Office.

"Vallerius first participated in the conspiracy by becoming a vendor on Dream Market," prosecutors explained. "As a vendor, he sold Oxycodone and Ritalin under the moniker “Oxymonster.”

Prosecutors said that Vallerius at times acted both as an administrator and senior moderator for Dream Market.

"In these positions, he played a role supporting the daily illicit transactions between buyers and vendors on Dream Market, such as the trafficking in narcotics, and the laundering of illicit proceeds using virtual currencies, Dream Market’s tumblers and the dark web," prosecutors said.

Vallerius is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Scola at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 25.

He was arrested in August 2017 while traveling from Paris to an international beard competition in Austin, Texas. His laptop was searched by border agents in Atlanta International Airport.

"On his laptop was the TOR browser, apparent log-in credentials for Dream Market, $500,000 worth of bitcoin and a PGP encryption key," according to investigators.

The investigation was conducted by members of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. Established in 1990, the task force is made up of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that target the region’s drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force also participated in the investigation.

The case involved the DEA Miami Field Office and Paris Country Office, FBI Miami, IRS Criminal Investigation Miami Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Miami and Atlanta Field Offices, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Field Operations Atlanta, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Field Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, Europol, Special Operations Division, Finnish National Police, Finnish International Judicial Administration of the Ministry of Justice, Dutch National Police, French Ministry of Justice and the Direction Interregionale de la Police Judiciaire as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juan A. Gonzalez and Frank R. Maderal of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

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