The U.S. Justice Department announced . charges on Monday against two former federal agents accused of . stealing the digital currency bitcoin during the investigation . of the underground drug marketplace Silk Road . Carl Force , a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent , . and Shaun Bridges , a special agent with the Secret Service , were . charged in a criminal complaint filed in San Francisco federal . court with offenses including wire fraud and money laundering . Silk Road was an underground website where people bought . drugs and other illicit goods using bitcoin digital currency . By . the time authorities shut it down in October 2013 , Silk Road had . generated around $ 200 million in sales , prosecutors said . Agents : Carl Force ( left ) , a former DEA agent , and Shaun Bridges ( right ) , a special agent with the Secret Service , have been accused of stealing thousands of bitcoins during an investigation into Silk Road . Website : Silk Road was an underground website where people bought drugs and other illicit goods using bitcoin digital currency . Authorities said it was operated by Ross Ulbricht , 30 , under . the alias 'Dread Pirate Roberts . ' A federal jury in Manhattan . found Ulbricht guilty in February of charges including . conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and money laundering . Force , 46 , and Bridges , 32 , belonged to a Baltimore-based . federal task force investigating the Silk Road . Force had a. prominent role in the probe , authorities said , as he was the . lead undercover agent in communication with Ulbricht . But prosecutors said while Force spoke with Ulbricht using . an officially sanctioned alias , he also created unauthorized . online personas to communicate with 'Dread Pirate Roberts . ' Using those aliases , Force extorted $ 250,000 from Ulbricht . and later offered to sell him information about the government 's . investigation for $ 100,000 , the complaint said . Prosecutors said Force also stole $ 90,000 worth of bitcoins . that Ulbricht paid him in under an officially sanctioned alias . used for the undercover investigation . Authorities said Bridges , 32 , meanwhile diverted to his . personal account over $ 800,000 worth of bitcoin that he . controlled during the Silk Road investigation . Investigation : Force , 46 , and Bridges , 32 , belonged to a Baltimore-based federal task force investigating the Silk Road . The two men are accused of stealing bitcoins ( pictured ) during the operation . By the time authorities shut Silk Road down in October 2013 , the website had generated around $ 200 million in sales , prosecutors said . The homepage to Silk Road 2.0 , allegedly an underground drug market , is seen in a screenshot after it was closed by U.S. authorities November 6 , 2014 . Process : This infographic purportedly reveals how money transactions on Silk Road were handled . Force was arrested in Baltimore on Friday and appeared in . court there on Monday . Bridges surrendered on Monday and was . released after appearing in court in San Francisco . Joshua Dratel , Ulbricht 's lawyer , in a statement on Monday . said that prosecutors only revealed information about the 'monumental scandal ' five weeks before trial after keeping the . investigation secret for nine months . 'It is clear from this complaint that fundamentally the . government 's investigation of Mr. Ulbricht lacked any integrity , . and was wholly and fatally compromised from the inside , ' Dratel . said . Steven Levin , a lawyer for Bridges , said he maintains his . innocence . Ivan Bates , Force 's attorney , did not respond to a. request for comment . The case is U.S. v. Force , U.S. District Court , Northern . District of California , No . 15-mj-70370 .
The U.S. Justice Department has announced charges against two former federal agents accused of stealing the digital currency . Carl Force , a former DEA agent , and Shaun Bridges , a special agent with the Secret Service , were charged in a criminal complaint . Silk Road was an underground website where people bought drugs and other illicit goods using bitcoin digital currency . Force , 32 , and Bridges , 46 , belonged to a Baltimore-based federal task force investigating the Silk Road . Force had a prominent role in the probe , authorities said , and was the lead undercover agent in communication with the website 's alleged operator .