Name Variety and | ||
Variety Jones (aka Cimon) and Smedley (Smed) Charger are pseudonyms of individuals reported to have been closely involved with the founding of the darknet market Silk Road.
Contents
Involvement
According to security researcher Runa A. Sandvik, Variety Jones joined Silk Road in 2011 as a marijuana seed vendor, opposed to the war on drugs. Working closely with Ross Ulbricht, he was to act as a penetration tester, financial advisor and mentor, and was the person who suggested the "Dread Pirate Roberts" title Ulbricht used. According to seized chat logs, Jones was also the one to suggest the first alleged murder for hire, though it did not actually take place.
Smedley joined the site as a coder following the Gawker user influx as a relatively highly paid employee. Unfinished projects included encrypted email system "Silk Mail" and other prospective financial and internet projects. At times it appeared Smedley reported directly to Jones.
Identities
Research into these individual's identities has been conducted via tracking blockchain Bitcoin transactions, confidential sources, rare Thai marijuana seeds and rationalisation of aliases. Consequently, it has been suggested Smedley's true identity could be Mike Wattier, a U.S. web developer living in Thailand. Variety Jones could be Thomas Clark, a Canadian also living in Thailand. On December 3, 2015, Clark was arrested in Thailand and is facing extradition to the United States.
Detainment
Nearly a year after his arrest and detainment in Thailand, which continues to this day, Clark claimed he had "top secret information" for intelligence officials close to Prayuth Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand's military government.
While fighting extradition in Thailand, where he sleeps on a concrete floor, Clark maintains that he has knowledge of a corrupt FBI agent involved in the Silk Road dark drug network.