ILLEGAL ONLINE DRUG MARKET DISMANTLED AND MORE THAN $28 MILLION IN CRYPTOCURRENCY FORFEITED

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - Matthew Simon Grimm, 51, a citizen of the United Kingdom, was sentenced to nine years in prison after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States, four counts of importation of a controlled substance into the United States, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "Dismantling this criminal enterprise required close collaboration between our federal and international law enforcement partners, and I am incredibly proud of the successful prosecution of this offender by my office. This is yet another step toward fulfilling the promise made by President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to Take Back America from the drug traffickers flooding our communities with poison, and this substantial forfeiture of the criminally obtained proceeds of this drug distribution operation resoundingly confirms that my office will ensure that offenders cannot profit from their crimes."

From 2015 until November 8, 2022, Grimm ran a website offering federally controlled substances for sale online. Grimm, along with co-conspirators, would receive orders and then ship controlled substances into the United States. The controlled substances varied, but included synthetic cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids, and analogues of methamphetamine. Records from Grimm's website indicated he had shipped at least 44,000 orders.

The Drug Enforcement Administration in Gainesville, Florida, began investigating Grimm, and ordered multiple controlled substances from his website, which were shipped to Gainesville.

Grimm would receive payment in the form of various cryptocurrencies. As part of his sentence, Grimm was ordered to forfeit cryptocurrency worth more than $28,000,000.

Co-defendant Carrie-Ann Tooley, 54, of Northport, Maine, worked for Grimm and was previously sentenced on April 14, 2025.

"Technology brings more ways for criminals to flood our streets with poison," said DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter. "DEA pursues cyber criminals with the same energy as street-level drug distributors. We will not stop until they have been brought to justice."

"The United States Postal Inspection Service is proud to stand with our domestic and international partners in identifying, disrupting, and dismantling transnational drug tracking organizations," said Bladismir Rojo, Postal Inspector in Charge, Miami Division. "We will pursue those who use the U.S. Mail to transport and distribute deadly drugs which impact the safety of postal employees and the communities they serve."

"This defendant and his co-conspirators pushed poison into our communities, profiting off the addiction, violence, and destruction these dangerous substances bring," said Homeland Security Investigations Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. "HSI and our partners remain relentless in our mission to dismantle these networks and protect our communities from the devastating impact of controlled substances."

These sentences were the result of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, and United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service, the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency, the United Kingdom Metropolitan Police, and the Netherlands National Police Corps. Assistant United States Attorneys James A. McCain, Adam Hapner, and Kaitlin Weiss prosecuted the case, along with former Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Elsey and David P. Byron.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.