Dark Web Vendor Canna_Bars Sentenced to over 5 years in prison – Jose Robert Porras III, 23, of Sacramento, was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison for distributing a controlled substance and illegally possessing firearms, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, Porras distributed marijuana and alprazolam (Xanax) on Wall Street Market using the vendor account “TheFastPlug” and on Dream Market using the vendor account “Canna_Bars.” Wall Street Market and Dream Market were websites on the dark web that allowed individuals to sell narcotics and other illegal goods and services. On May 22, 2018, investigators searched a storage unit held by Porras and found numerous firearms, including a D and D Sales Model-A uzi-style firearm, a Norinco MAK-90 Sporter rifle, and a Smith and Wesson .44-caliber revolver. Porras cannot lawfully possess firearms because he has previously been convicted of a felony in 2017.
Co-defendant, Pasia Vue, of Sacramento has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13, 2020.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Northern California Illicit Digital Economy Task Force (NCIDE), comprised of agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The NCIDE Task Force is a joint, federal task force focused on targeting all forms of dark web and cryptocurrency activity in the Eastern District of California. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Grant B. Rabenn and Paul Hemesath prosecuted the case.
Press release about this case can be found: HERE