Indianapolis Night Club Manager Guilty In Dark Web Drug Trafficking Case

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced Wednesday that an Indianapolis night club manager was sentenced to 188 months in prison for his role in a nationwide heroin and cocaine trafficking ring on the so-called "Dark Web." Pierre Burnett, Jr., 44, was sentenced in federal court for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine, distribution of heroin and cocaine, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to Minkler. The arrest and conviction of Burnett, manager of Epic Ultra Lounge manager (formerly Tantrum) in Indianapolis, was the result of an investigation into the Dark Web, the release reports.

According to the release, Burnett, also known as "Doe" was the leader of the major heroin and cocaine distribution ring in the Indianapolis area and elsewhere.

“Gone are the days when criminals could cloak their drug trafficking activity behind the anonymity of the Dark Web,” Minkler said. “Our office is committed to ferreting out and prosecuting individuals engaged in cyber-crime in all its many forms.” (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Indianapolis Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts and LIKE Indianapolis Patch on Facebook.)
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From at least 2012 through Aug. 18, 2015, Burnett reportedly got cocaine and heroin directly from a Mexican source of supply, and provided the drugs to Lee Gray, a Camby, Indiana resident at the time. According to the release, Gray was selling heroin and cocaine in exchange for bitcoins on Silk Road and other Dark Web sites. He was indicted on July 7, 2015 thanks to an investigation by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He will be sentenced on October 4, 2017.

The Dark Web distribution site Silk Road was shut down in Oct. 2013 by federal law enforcement agencies, the release reports.

The release also reports Burnett must serve five years of supervised release following completion of incarceration.

More information: justice.gov

(Image via Shutterstock)