The indictment says:
involved the transport and transmission of funds that were known to the defendant to have been derived from a criminal offense and were intended to be used to promote and support unlawful activity
I wonder what that's about. I doubt that he was knowingly helping the Silk Road or anything like that...
The thing is... Why do people pay a premium for bitcoin when they can just buy it from an exchange by linking their bank? There are a lot of people that intentionally want to remain anonymous because they are laundering money or made the money illegally. I have asked some borrowers before why they can afford such high interest rates and they have told me the about their customers.
This angers me more than anything else I read. Burt never transported or transmitted funds known to be derived from a criminal offense or known to be intended to be used to promote unlawful activity. That was an absolute lie on the part of the feds to obtain a sealed search warrant. The phrase is part of a Patriot Act statute revision that enables the feds to act in secret so the feds use it liberally even when there are no facts to support it. The case was dismissed because (1) Burt did NOT need a business license and (2) he never knowingly obtained funds or sent funds that he knew were earmarked for a criminal activity.
Our family's reputation has been forever damaged because of the lies and slander by AUSA Michele Korver and S.A. Arran McWhirter and we can never sue the bastards. The least you people could do is quit perpetuating the lies.
FYI -- people new to Bitcoin like to trade in person because it gives them a chance to learn more about Bitcoins and the community. It's social. Like going to garage sales to chat.