Dark web marketplace AlphaBay's spokesperson was a 24-year-old Reddit mod

Moderating an online community spread across numerous platforms and countries can be a challenging task — especially when slipping up means more than angry downvotes.

And Ronald L. Wheeler, III, as long-time spokesperson for and moderator of the dark web marketplace AlphaBay, is indeed now facing way more than displeased online hordes. Specifically, he's looking at sentencing for fraud.

According to a March 8 statement from the Department of Justice, 24-year-old Wheeler (aka "Trappy") worked as the public relations arm of AlphaBay — a site selling guns, drugs, hacking tools, and other delightful treats -- for about two years before it was finally shut down by law enforcement in 2017.

He has pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit access device fraud" for his work for the site.

Just what exactly did he do in his capacity as spokesperson for an illicit online marketplace? Pretty mundane stuff, actually.

"Wheeler’s duties included moderating the AlphaBay subreddit on the internet website reddit.com," notes the statement, "moderating the AlphaBay message board forums; mediating sales disputes among AlphaBay users; promoting AlphaBay on the internet; and providing non-technical assistance to AlphaBay users."

Basically, he kept the peace on AlphaBay's private forums as well as on the now-banned AlphaBay subreddit. For that work, he was paid in bitcoin, although it's not clear from the DOJ statement how much. According the government, Wheeler also attempted to help customers avoid getting caught by police.

“Wheeler spent hours on the Dark Web and general Internet providing AlphaBay users tips for attempting to avoid detection by law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak is quoted as saying in the same release. 

If only he had successfully managed to use some of those tips himself.