Sacramento, California - Cody Boyd, 26, of Woodbridge, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley to three years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute testosterone, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, in December 2017, law enforcement agents began monitoring PhantomLabs, an online storefront on Dream Market, a dark web sales site. Agents identified Boyd, as the owner and operator of this store, which sold, among other things: anabolic steroids (including testosterone, deca durabolin, oxymetholone (Anadrol), oxandrolone (Anavar), methandrostenolone (Dianabol), and boldenone (Equipoise)), cocaine, Xanax pills, and pound-quantities of marijuana.
PhantomLabs had joined Dream Market on May 27, 2017. Less than 10 months later, on March 23, 2018, it had 620 customer reviews presenting an average satisfaction rating of 4.9 on a five-point scale.
On March 26, 2018, agents executed search warrants at Boyd’s home and business. In total, agents found more than 100 pounds of steroids – at least 1,500 vials of liquid steroids and approximately 10 pounds of powder steroids. They also found approximately 20 pounds of marijuana and 50 Xanax pills. Additionally, agents found more than $26,500 in cash, an AR-15-style rifle registered to him, more than 10 fraudulent drivers licenses bearing Boyd’s photo and false names, various items bearing the PhantomLabs brand logo, packets of suspected butane honey oil, and an electronic money counter. Agents also found a Sig Sauer handgun in Boyd’s truck. At Boyd’s business unit, agents found a digital scale, about 50 U.S. Postal Service parcels, and a folder containing indicia for Boyd and Team Phantom.
Agents seized Boyd’s Ford Shelby GT 350, which he valued at $120,000, about $95,000 in currency and bank accounts, and about 2.2 bitcoins.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Northern California Illicit Digital Economy Task Force (NCIDE), composed of agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and IRS Criminal Investigation. The NCIDE Task Force is a federal task force focused on targeting all forms of dark web and cryptocurrency activity in the Eastern District of California. Assistant United States Attorney Paul Hemesath prosecuted the case.
