Orlando, FL – Senior U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp has sentenced Matthew Jones, a/k/a “Caligirl,” “Dynamite2k,” “Dynamite,” “Tyler Zeddai,” and “Mateo Jones” (44, Dallas, Texas) to five years and ten months in federal prison for illegally distributing controlled substances. He pleaded guilty on August 26, 2014.

According to court documents, while Jones was working as the Chief Technology Officer for a software consulting company in Dallas, he operated as the vendor “Caligirl” on the Silk Road drug marketplace. Silk Road operated as an online criminal marketplace designed to enable its users to buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods and services anonymously, outside the reach of law enforcement. 

Between April 10, 2013, and September 9, 2013, Caligirl’s Silk Road account completed 685 finalized sales of controlled substances. Beginning on July 11, 2013, through March 20, 2014, Drug Enforcement Administration agents purchased and seized more than 400 Oxycodone tablets and more than 900 Hydrocodone tablets from Jones. Jones shipped the drugs from Texas to Central Florida. His sales placed him in the top 5% of all Silk Road vendors. 

Authorities arrested Jones while he was travelling back to the United States from Colombia. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of approximately 8,500 Oxycodone pills. Simultaneous with his arrest, agents executed a federal search warrant at his Texas residence, where they recovered approximately $75,000 in cash and seized a variety of controlled substances, including Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, MDMA, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and Hashish. A drug lab was also located in the residence.

In addition to operating on Silk Road, Jones conducted his illicit drug trafficking business utilizing an encrypted and anonymized peer-to-peer program.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Orlando District Office, with assistance from the United States Postal Inspection Service in Dallas, Texas.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Haas.