A North Texas man has pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges after federal officials said he sold drugs online for nearly a year and used the money to pay his mortgage.
Aaron Brewer, 39, created dark-web market vendor accounts to sell cocaine, heroin, and other substances to people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and throughout the country, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Federal officials said Brewer’s customers typically used bitcoin to pay him.
Once he received the payment, he then used the United States Postal Service and other shipping services to send the drugs, officials said.
In March, law enforcement officials with Operation DisrupTor discovered a ledger that linked the drug orders with tracking numbers inside his apartment.
Operation DisrupTor is an international effort to stop opioid trafficking on the Darknet.
Authorities said Brewer later admitted to dealing more than 4,000 grams of cocaine and more than 80 grams of black tar heroin over an 11-month period.
He also used the more than $50,000 in proceeds of the illegal activity to pay his mortgage, according to officials.
Brewer pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox.
As part of Brewer's plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit property in Plano to the government. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
"The Northern District of Texas is committed to finding and stopping dealers wherever they are – whether that’s on the streets or in the dark crevasses of the internet," Cox said.
