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 . They are alleged to have stolen bitcoins from Silk Road's users by using their access to the online marketplace as part of an elaborate scheme that involved selling them on the black market for thousands or even millions 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 , and was the lead undercover agent in communication with the website 's alleged operator .