C. Aliens 
SEATTLE – A 40-year-old Seattle man was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in federal prison for selling thousands of doses of the illegal drug fentanyl on the dark web.
According to court documents, Matthew Witters made more than 2,300 sales of fentanyl on the encrypted websites AlphaBay and Dream Market between 2015 and 2017, raking in well over $1 million.
At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ordered forfeiture of those funds, and noted Witters sold “an enormous quantity of an extremely dangerous drug.”
“Fentanyl traffickers, who put their profits ahead of public safety, justifiably face significant federal prison sentences,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. “Trafficking in these substances endangers not only the end-user, but innocent bystanders such as postal workers or family members who might come in contact with the highly toxic substance.”
According to court records filed in the case, Witters came to the attention of law enforcement when his contact information and dark web monikers were discovered in residences connected with drug trafficking in Oklahoma and California.
Witters’ sales on AlphaBay ended when law enforcement shut down the site in July 2017, and Witters himself was arrested on Dec. 10, 2018.
The next day, authorities executed a search warrant on a safe deposit box Witters leased at a Shoreline bank. Inside was more than $165,000 in currency, a variety of controlled substances, mailing labels and stamps – and a loaded Glock pistol.
Witters has been in custody since his arrest and in June he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
