Sky Justin Gornik previously pled guilty to the charge and also admitted that he tried to launder drug proceeds using cryptocurrencies, which he held on US-based exchanges Bittrex and Poloniex. As part of his plea, Gornik admitted he bought and sold controlled substances on the dark web from 2014 to June 7, 2017. To do so, he used several screen names on marketplaces including Alpha Bay, Dream Market, and Trade Route. Specifically, Gornik bought and sold fentanyl. He also admitted to buying the especially deadly opiate carfentanil using a variety of digital currencies. Gornik also bought and sold several other controlled substances, including thousands of vials of ketamine, oxycodone pills, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), psilocybin and psilocin, amphetamine, buprenorphine, methamphetamine, and naloxone. After raiding his home, agents confiscated 1.7 grams of carfentanil and sheets of fentanyl gelatin tablets. The amount of carfentanil found by agents equated to “over 86,000 fatal dosages.” Gornik is thought to have purchased 600-1,200 fentanyl gel tablets a week over approximately two years from another dark web dealer, identified as Steven Wallace George. George, a resident of Oklahoma, has been prosecuted by authorities in his home state for making the fentanyl tablets from pure fentanyl imported from China.
