Convicted Darknet Buyer Found to be Child of High Profile Murderer

US District Judge Robert Jonker sentenced the son of Arthur Paiva—ringleader in the 1979 murder of Janet Chandler—to 30 months in prison. Michael Carlton Paiva, the son in question, found himself caught up in the Silk Road 2.0 investigation. Between 2013 and 2016 Michael ordered $11,000 worth of drugs and resold them throughout Western Michigan.

During the Silk Road 2.0 investigation, federal investigators flagged Paiva for his online activities. The Homeland Security Investigations recognized the activity and collaborated with The West Michigan Enforcement Team to connect the identities.

With help from the HSI agents in charge of the case, The West Michigan Enforcement Team or WMET connected Paiva to the online profile. In recently leaked court transcripts, the full details of his case emerged. Investigators connected the dots between Michael Paiva and his father, Arthur Paiva. The father died in prison six months ago—and his death, combined with the crimes that put his father in prison initially—triggered Paiva’s darknet activities. This claim came from testimonial statements at Paiva’s hearing.

Paul Mitchell, Paiva’s defense attorney, said Michael and Jamie Paiva suffered a great trauma after learning about their father. Michael and his sister, Jamie, watched their father stand trial in 2007 for a 1979 murder. Their father, Arthur Paiva, participated in the kidnapping and murder of Hope College student Janet Chandler. Along with six other Wackenhut Corp. security guards who stayed at the same hotel, Arthur Paiva abducted, raped, and strangled the woman.

The murder went unsolved and the guards went back to their day-to-day business. Arthur raised his children and never mentioned anything. And then in 2007, their lives changed. “To be told that your father, the person you adore most in the entire world, partook in the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young woman in 1979 is extremely traumatic,” Mitchell said. He noted that Michael Paiva already same in the drug culture but not to the current extreme.

Despite the background as portrayed by Michael Paiva’s attorney, the government believed Paiva received an insufficient sentence. According to the DoJ, the sentencing guidelines of 37 to 46 failed to reflect “the sophistication of his scheme.”

He made 29 orders on the Silk Road 2.0 and additionally ingested since of the drugs, court documents revealed.

Our other article about the Silk Road 2.0 redistributor explained the so-called “sophistication” of his scheme. It reads, “he [Paiva] bought MDMA, mescaline, LSD, AL-LAD, DMT, DOM, 25i-NBOMe, and liquid mushrooms” from the darknet. He sold the above drugs on the streets of Michigan. The district attorney explained that the defendant also sold cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

Michael Carlton Paiva received 30 months in prison for narcotics distribution.