Pubdate: Thu, 02 Apr 2015 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2015 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Benjamin Weiser AGENT SECRETLY INVESTIGATED DURING TRIAL ON ILLICIT SITE The trial of Ross W. Ulbricht on charges he ran Silk Road, a website that allowed people to engage anonymously in drug dealing and other illicit activities, was widely watched in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Mr. Ulbricht was convicted in February and now faces a potential life sentence. But despite the high-profile nature of the case, an intriguing drama was playing out at the same time that the public did not see, newly unsealed court records show. It involved then-secret allegations of a rogue federal agent who was trying to enrich himself off the Silk Road scheme, information that Mr. Ulbricht's lawyers believed tainted the government's case. On Dec. 15, weeks before the trial began, Judge Katherine B. Forrest held a closed hearing to discuss the delicate topic. The prosecutors, with the court's approval, had told the defense lawyers that a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Carl Mark Force IV, was under investigation in San Francisco on suspicion that he stole money during the undercover inquiry into Silk Road. The defense wanted to use that information in Mr. Ulbricht's trial, but the government objected on various grounds, including that Mr. Force was not aware of the full scope of the investigation into his activities, and that if he found out, he might flee, destroy evidence or seek to intimidate witnesses. "He does not know what the government or the grand jury is looking at," Timothy T. Howard, a prosecutor, said at the hearing, a transcript shows. Judge Forrest ultimately barred the defense from using the information about Mr. Force. It was not until this Monday that the allegations became public, when the authorities announced that Mr. Force and a former Secret Service agent, Shaun W. Bridges, had been charged with money laundering and wire fraud in connection with the Silk Road investigation. Mr. Bridges's lawyer has said his client maintains his innocence and will fight the charges; a lawyer for Mr. Force did not return a call seeking comment. But the court papers, unsealed by the judge, show a lengthy behind-the-scenes dispute over how the information about Mr. Force should be handled. On Nov. 21, the United States attorney's office in Manhattan wrote to the judge, asking for permission to tell the defense about the San Francisco investigation into Mr. Force and seeking an order prohibiting the defense from disclosing its existence. The letter contended Mr. Force had "played no role" in the Manhattan-based investigation of Mr. Ulbricht; rather, the agent had been part of a separate inquiry in Baltimore that resulted in the filing of charges there against Mr. Ulbricht. The prosecutors argued that the Force investigation was not "in any way exculpatory as to Ulbricht or otherwise material to his defense" - - the kind of information the government would be required to turn over - but added that they were providing the information "in an abundance of caution." On Dec. 1, Judge Forrest granted the government's request, and Mr. Ulbricht's lawyers were told about the investigation. In early December, the defense responded with its own sealed arguments that the information about the Force investigation was both material and potentially exculpatory, and should be unsealed and admitted at trial. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story "We thought it was relevant and helpful to our defense, which was that other people had access to the Silk Road site and a motivation to frame Ross Ulbricht," Mr. Ulbricht's lawyer, Joshua L. Dratel, said on Wednesday. In court filings, the prosecutors, Mr. Howard and Serrin Turner, affirmed their opposition to disclosing the information to the jury, calling it "irrelevant and inflammatory," and saying it tended to bolster Mr. Ulbricht's guilt, not his innocence. They said that in the Manhattan case, the government "has not relied on and is not offering any evidence" from the Baltimore investigation. Mr. Dratel, at the Dec. 15 hearing, argued that without the information, "we're going to be fighting this fight with hands tied behind our backs." On Dec. 22, Judge Forrest issued a sealed decision agreeing with the prosecution that the information about Mr. Force was not exculpatory and citing the government's claim that its disclosure "would result in significant prejudice to the integrity of the investigation." Mr. Dratel said he would now seek a new trial for Mr. Ulbricht based on the information in the new charges. The United States attorney's office had no comment. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom