A 35-year-old Glendale man faces sentencing Tuesday for helping distribute various drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and ketamine on hidden online marketplaces.
Davit Avalyan was among four defendants arrested last year in Glendale and Sherman Oaks on federal charges alleging their roles in running a drug ring that operated on so-called “darknet” marketplaces.
Avalyan pleaded guilty in October in downtown Los Angeles to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Prosecutors are asking for a prison sentence of almost five years.
The arrests were part of the federal Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement initiative to address illicit vendors operating on the darknet to provide narcotics to buyers across the United States, according to the FBI.
The indictment states that various vendors using such names as JoyInc, LaFarmacia, WhiteDoc and JanesAddiction, among others, sold cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA — commonly known as ecstasy and molly — and ketamine to customers in exchange for cryptocurrency.
The defendants shipped the drugs throughout the country via the U.S. Postal Service. According to the indictment, the defendants filled orders through various vendor accounts by packaging the drugs into parcels and delivering the packages to post offices and mailboxes in Los Angeles County and elsewhere.
JoyInc is believed to have operated for at least seven years and is one of the most prolific methamphetamine and cocaine distributors to operate on the darknet, authorities said.
During the arrests, agents served multiple federal search warrants and seized “large amounts” of cash and suspected drugs, according to the FBI.
The remaining defendants pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy count as Avalyan and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years.