D Walden 
An Augusta man accused of selling personal identity information on the dark web that he allegedly stole from employers was arrested Friday.
In a detention hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Magistrate Judge Brian Epps granted Marquavious D. Britt a $15,000 bond. Britt will be on home detention with electronic monitoring.
Britt came to the attention of federal agents following a tip that information from a managed service provider had been posted for sale on the dark web Sept. 30, FBI Special Agent Taylor Burns testified Tuesday.
The managed service provider located in Atlanta provides IT support, mobile application development and software support to its clients. Britt worked for the company for several weeks this past summer, Burns testified. The FBI arranged to purchase the posted data and paid $600 in Bitcoin. The trail led back to Britt in Augusta.
The investigation also uncovered the sale of personal identity information gathered from TaxSlayer, where Britt was working until his arrest. He is on unpaid leave now, Burns said. A third victim was identified Monday, Burns said. At least two of the victims were sent ransom emails before the data was posted for sale on the dark web.
The investigation continues but agents cannot yet access accounts Britt is believed to have set up for cloud storage. He could have uploaded stolen data to those accounts which he could access with any electronic device, Burns said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Lyons sought to have Britt held without bond, at least in the weeks federal agents need to work on the case further.
Defense attorney Holly Chapman asked Epps to set bond for Britt who is willing to cooperate with federal agents so they can access his accounts. Britt has no criminal history.
Epps granted Britt bond, but he is confined to his home except for medical or legal matters. He is not allowed to have access to any electronic device or the internet.
Britt is expected to be indicted in U.S. District in Atlanta, the prosecutor said Tuesday. He is charged with accessing a computer without authorization to obtain information from a protected computer to obtain information valued at more than $5,000.
