43-year-old Bethlehem citizen Jeremy P. Achey – or as many darknet customers knew him, “ETIKING” – was arrested with charges of distributing controlled substances and criminal use of communication facilities. The drugs sold by Achey included synthetic opioids, LSD and Ecstasy.
Since his arrest, Achey has been 100% connected to at least one fatal overdose. This overdose included a 24-year-old woman and her fiancé – while the fiancé later woke up after hospitalization, the woman lost her life. The couple had ordered tetrahydrofuranfentanyl and Entizolam off the black market via Achey.
After waking up in the hospital, the man helped authorities with the investigation against Achey. Giving them his AlphaBay username and password, the detectives were able to log in and confirm the orders and correspondence.
The man was also able to give authorities a visual to work with, as he’d video-chatted with Achey about the consumption of the drugs.
The first message sent to Achey after the overdose:
“Hey I just saw this. I overdosed. which is (crazy I didn’t do much at all, that fentanyl, but my fiancé died on it, I was revived, she wasn’t and didn’t do much… U should probably up the price and put warnings on it… I know it’s our own fault, no one made us do that but still, it’s more dangerous than the internet lets on.”
After that, agents used the man’s account to convince Achey that the man was going through withdrawals and needed a fix. After Achey told the undercover agents that he “had something for him”, the agents proceeded to gather additional evidence with several other undercover accounts. Finally, after months of investigation, Achey was arrested.
Since his arrest, Achey is in the center of 19 additional fatal overdoses.
“Assistant U.S. Attorney Kishan Nair said at Achey’s preliminary appearance June 27 that authorities are still investigating whether the drugs Achey allegedly sold may also be connected to 19 other overdose deaths across the country. The investigation into the deaths remains ongoing.”