Father-and-Son Crew Face Lengthy Sentences for Selling Meth on the Darkweb

A father and son from Orange County, California, are facing lengthy prison sentences for allegedly selling methamphetamine through a number of undisclosed darkweb marketplaces, according to an announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office. Earlier this month, a jury found the father guilty and June 17, the son pleaded guilty.

According to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, one member of a father-and-son crew from Irvine pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Only 11 days before the Irvine man had entered his guilty plea, a federal jury in Santa Ana had found the Irvine man’s co-defendant guilty of two counts of attempted distribution of methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

William Thomas Glarner IV, 34, admitted in the plea agreement that he had been selling drugs on the darkweb with his father, William Thomas Glarner III, 61. He admitted the two had primarily sold methamphetamine and had more than 1,500 completed transactions under their belts.

The investigation into the duo began in March 2018. Federal investigators uncovered evidence of Glarner IV’s possible involvement in darkweb drug trafficking during an investigation into a different darkweb vendor. On March 14, law enforcement in California conducted a traffic stop and searched Glarner IV’s vehicle. The officers located several pounds of a substance later identified as methamphetamine and materials associated with drug trafficking such as a scale and plastic bags. They found methamphetamine and similar drug trafficking equipment at the man’s house as well.

During the investigation into the son, they identified the father and conducted a similar traffic stop and found similar illegal substances and drug trafficking equipment in his car as well. At least one of the packages had a label on it that matched the address of one of the duo’s customers on a darkweb marketplace. The father, Glarner III, fought the charges and lost the case; a jury found him guilty of three methamphetamine distribution charges. The hearing lasted four days. The evidence that the prosecutors relied on came from surveillance tapes from January 2018 that captured Glarner III dropping packages off at a FedEx store and at a Los Alamitos Post Office.

Glarner III is scheduled to be sentenced in September. Glarner IV’s sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Both face between ten years and a lifetime in prison.

Source: DOJ