NEW YORK: A Canadian man who US authorities say earned hundreds of thousands of dollars working for the notorious Silk Road drug-dealing website has been extradited from Thailand, two and a half years after his arrest.
Roger Thomas Clark, known online as "Variety Jones", was arrested in December 2015 in Thailand. He arrived in New York on Friday.
Clark, 56, was awaiting an appearance in Manhattan federal court to face an indictment charging him with playing a key role in the website by advising its founder, Ross Ulbricht.
Ulbricht, 33, is serving life in prison after his conviction. He ran the site from January 2011 until October 2013.
Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said that Clark was a trusted confidant of Ulbricht when he ran the secret online marketplace for illegal drugs, hacking services and other criminal activity.
He said Clark advised Ulbricht "on all aspects of this illegal business, including how to maximise profits and use threats of violence to thwart law enforcement".
William Sweeney, head of the New York FBI office, said Clark was "Ulbricht's right-hand man" and pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars while helping Ulbricht.
"Today's extradition of Roger Clark shows that despite alleged attempts to operate under the radar, he was never out of our reach," Sweeney said.
If convicted, Clark faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.