Three Sentenced to Probation for Darkweb Steroid Sales

Three men, including the brother of a WWE wrestler, received fines and probation instead of prison time for their roles in a steroid distribution operation involving vendor accounts on Alphabay, Dream Market, Wall Street Market, and others.

U.S. District Judge James Gwin sentenced Ronald Roginsky to three years on probation and ordered him to pay a fine of $25,000. John Ambrose received a probation sentence of three years and was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000. Eric Angle, the brother of former WWE wrestler Kurt Angle, received a sentence of two years on probation and a fine of only $5,000.

Earlier this year, Angle and Ambrose pleaded guilty to selling anabolic steroids on several markets, including Alphabay, Dream Market, Wall Street Market, and Olympus Market, Berlusconi, and Empire Market under the username “qu4ntum.” Both admitted one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in January 2020.

Roginsky admitted one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances as well as one count of conspiracy to launder money.

A four-count indictment filed by United States Attorneys in Ohio in September 2019 accused the defendants of running a large-scale steroid distribution operation. According to the indictment, the operation netted more than $100,000. Roginsky, according to his plea agreement, laundered the money through several cryptocurrencies, several bank accounts, and a line of credit.

After law enforcement executed search warrants at the homes of the defendants, they questioned each one about the conspiracy.

From a previous article about the case:

During questioning, Roginsky told federal investigators that he had opened 10 P.O. boxes at nine different USPS locations in furtherance of his drug trafficking conspiracy. He admitted that he had not had a legitimate job in two years and that all of the money in his bank accounts, in his house, in his Electrum Bitcoin wallet, and his LocalBitcoins Bitcoin wallet was from steroid sales.

The indictment accuses the defendants of taking various measures to conceal their identities from law enforcement. These measures included:

• Forum posting on anonymous clear web marketplaces;
• Live conversations using end-to-end encrypted voice calling platforms; and
• Private messaging including end-to-end encrypted messaging applications.
• Defendants used the United States Postal Service, third party shipping companies, and hand-to-hand transactions as the means of distributing the controlled substances. Defendants used various means to hide their identification as the shippers of drug parcels including opening Post Office Boxes under fictitious identities.
  

  

On Recon, the search engine and database of darkweb vendors created by HugBunter, qu4ntum has a total of 2,065 reviews. Of those reviews listed on Recon, the overwhelming majority are less than favorable towards the vendor. According to United States Attorneys, the trio distributed more than “60,000 unit doses” of anabolic steroids during the conspiracy.

The majority of the court documents are still sealed or otherwise unavailable to the public.

United States of America vs. Eric S. Angle: Judgment in a Criminal Case pdf html