A 24-year-old man from Illinois has been accused by federal prosecutors of being the spokesman for AlphaBay , the now-defunct online drug marketplace.

On Wednesday, Ronald L. Wheeler III of Streamwood, Illinois, was charged in federal court in Atlanta with "conspiracy to commit access device fraud," according to the Associated Press.

The hearing comes months after federal officials announced the closure of the site in July 2017 and confirmed the recent death of Canadian citizen Alexandre Cazes, who they said was the Thailand-based mastermind behind AlphaBay. At the time, authorities also distributed a criminal indictment against Cazes from the Eastern District of California on numerous conspiracy and drug trafficking charges.

A handful of other prosecutions against other AlphaBay-affiliated suspects nationwide are underway. Wheeler appeared in court and pleaded not guilty. He was released on bond, according to the AP.

Prosecutors said that Wheeler operated online under the names "Trappy" and "Trappy-Pandora." He is said to have served as AlphaBay’s "public relations specialist" beginning in May 2015, mediating sales disputes and promoting AlphaBay online, including on Reddit.

In August 2017, some users on /r/DarkNetMarkets believed that Trappy was "next to be busted."