LOS ANGELES – A sentencing hearing was postponed Tuesday for a Los Angeles County man who admitted his role in a three-person scheme that used a hidden internet network to obtain illegal narcotics and then shipped methamphetamine to buyers in the Philippines, New Zealand and Poland.
Michael Goldberg, 36, previously pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A new sentencing date was not immediately announced.
Prosecutors said Goldberg ran the drug-trafficking ring and continued to do so even after being taken into federal custody in 2018 for an unrelated fraud case for which he was sentenced to 42 months in prison.
Goldberg’s wife, 33-year-old Donnica Rabulan, also pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy charge and was sentenced in January to 92 months behind bars. The third defendant, James Kueker, 43, pleaded guilty to helping operate the scheme and is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors said the trio used the Darknet — a hidden internet network — to buy drugs using bitcoin and made 59 drug shipments to international buyers. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a shipping company contacted authorities in May 2018 about seven parcels being sent to the Philippines believed to contain controlled substances. Investigators determined the packages contained about 46 pounds of methamphetamine and had contact information linked to Goldberg.
Rabulan made shipments of methamphetamine to overseas buyers, while Kueker collected thousands of dollars in proceeds from the sales on behalf of Goldberg, according to court papers.
Federal officials raided Kueker’s homes in 2019, discovering drug labs at both locations and a loaded AK- 47-style rifle at the Hollywood Hills home, prosecutors said.
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Internet Drug Ring says
Goldberg.