Ex-'Silk Road' website adviser extradited from Thailand

A Canadian man who federal authorities say earned hundreds of thousands of dollars working for the notorious "Silk Road" drug-dealing website was extradited from Thailand.

Roger Thomas Clark, arrested in December 2015 in Thailand, arrived in New York on Friday.

Clark, 56, awaited an appearance in Manhattan federal court to face an indictment charging him with playing a key role in the website by advising its founder, Ross Ulbricht. It wasn't immediately clear who would represent Clark.

Ulbricht is serving life in prison after his conviction. He ran the site from January 2011 until October 2013.

Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a release that Clark was a trusted confidant of Ulbricht when he ran the secret online marketplace for illegal drugs, hacking services and other criminal activity.

He said Clark advised him "on all aspects of this illegal business, including how to maximize profits and use threats of violence to thwart law enforcement."

William F. Sweeney Jr., head of the New York FBI office, said Clark was "Ulbricht's right-hand man" and pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars while helping Ulbricht.

"Today's extradition of Roger Clark shows that despite alleged attempts to operate under the radar, he was never out of our reach," Sweeney said.

If convicted, Clark faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.