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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The FBI seized DeepDotWeb in 2019 after federal prosecutors charged its alleged operators, Tal Prihar and Michael Phan, with conspiring to launder money earned through referrals to darknet marketplaces. Prihar later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 97 months in prison; Phan’s case had a different status in the latest official update located, which reported extradition proceedings in Israel as of February 6, 2025.
Why did the FBI seize DeepDotWeb?
DeepDotWeb provided links to darknet marketplaces and general information about the darknet. In a one-count indictment returned on April 24, 2019, prosecutors alleged that Prihar and Phan had operated the site since around October 2013 and used referral links to earn kickbacks connected to purchases made through those marketplaces. The FBI seized the website under a court order in 2019. The Justice Department’s May 8, 2019 announcement said the marketplaces listed drugs, firearms, hacking tools and malware, stolen financial information, and other contraband.
The charge was conspiracy to commit money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). An indictment is an accusation, not a finding of guilt: DOJ stated that both defendants were presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. DOJ’s indictment announcement described the alleged proceeds as more than $15 million. The indictment separately alleged receipt of approximately 8,155 bitcoins between around November 2014 and April 10, 2019, valued at approximately $8,414,173 using the exchange value at the time of each transaction—not a present-day bitcoin valuation. The indictment hosted by DOJ and DOJ’s 2021 plea announcement give that bitcoin figure and transaction-time dollar value.
What happened to Tal Prihar and Michael Phan?
Tal Prihar: guilty plea and sentence
Prihar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on March 31, 2021. On January 24, 2022, he was sentenced to 97 months in prison and agreed to forfeit $8,414,173, according to DOJ’s sentencing announcement, which was updated February 6, 2025. The guilty plea and sentence are adjudicated events, unlike the allegations made in the original indictment.
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Michael Phan: status last reported by DOJ
The DOJ sentencing page’s February 6, 2025 update said Phan remained abroad and was undergoing extradition proceedings in Israel. That is the latest official status located for this account; it does not establish what happened after that update. Prihar’s plea and sentence should not be treated as Phan’s outcome.
How did the case unfold?
- Around October 2013: The indictment alleged that Prihar and Phan began operating DeepDotWeb. The indictment describes the alleged period.
- April 24, 2019: A federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania returned the one-count indictment against both men.
- May 6, 2019: Prihar was arrested in Paris at the United States’ request. Phan was arrested in Israel pursuant to Israeli charges.
- May 2019: The FBI seized DeepDotWeb under a court order. DOJ’s May 8 announcement reported the seizure; its 2022 sentencing announcement describes it as occurring in April 2019, so the sources differ on the month.
- March 31, 2021: DOJ announced Prihar’s guilty plea. The plea announcement also reported the approximately 8,155 bitcoins and their transaction-time value.
- January 25, 2022: DOJ reported that Prihar had been sentenced the previous day to 97 months and agreed to forfeit $8,414,173.
- February 6, 2025: DOJ updated the sentencing page with its report that Phan remained abroad and was undergoing extradition proceedings in Israel.
What did law enforcement say about the operation?
The case involved authorities in multiple countries and U.S. agencies. DOJ named French authorities, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Brazilian Federal Police, Israeli National Police, Dutch National Police, Europol, German federal and regional police, and the U.K. National Crime Agency. Europol’s 2019 account also described the arrests in France and Israel and the coordinated shutdown.
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At the May 2019 announcement, then-U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott W. Brady called the action “the first takedown of the very infrastructure that supports and promotes the illegal marketplaces where these deadly drugs are sold on the Darknet.” That was Brady’s characterization of the operation, not a court finding. In 2021, FBI Pittsburgh Acting Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples described DeepDotWeb as “a gateway to facilitate the illegal purchase of items to include dangerous drugs, weapons, and malicious software” in an announcement accompanying Prihar’s plea.
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