Bellevue Man who Sold Drugs on ‘Silk Road’ Internet Site Pleads Guilty to Drug Distribution Conspiracy

            A 40-year-old Bellevue, Washington man who was a prolific drug dealer on the online marketplace “Silk Road,” pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  STEVEN SADLER sold cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine to people who ordered over the internet via the Silk Road site.  He shipped the drugs through the mail.  When sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez on September 4, 2014, SADLER faces a mandatory minimum five years and up to 40 years in prison because of the volume of drugs he sold.

            According to the plea agreement, SADLER, under the screen name NOD, began selling drugs on Silk Road in 2012.  The internet site was dubbed an anonymous marketplace, where the majority of the business was the sale of illegal drugs.  When police searched his apartment on July 31, 2013, they found more than a kilogram of cocaine and heroin each, as well as 400 grams of methamphetamine.  They also found a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol hidden under the mattress in his bedroom.  SADLER is also forfeiting a 2007 BMW 525 and $4,200 cash seized the day the search warrants were served.

            The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Woods.