An Irishman who went by the online moniker "Libertas" on the now-defunct drug website Silk Road pleaded guilty on Friday to drug trafficking charges.

According to federal prosecutors in New York, Gary Davis served as a paid moderator and later administrator for Silk Road for several months in 2013.

Silk Road’s founder Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted at a 2015 trial, is currently serving a double life sentence. On June 28, 2018, the Supreme Court declined to hear Ulbricht’s appeal.

Davis plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Over two years ago, when Davis was ordered to be extradited from his native country, he told Ars that he would appeal and resist extradition—efforts that clearly were not successful.

During Davis’ extradition hearings in August 2016, his lawyers said that he would face "inhuman" treatment in an American prison.

Davis, who did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment, is set to be sentenced on January 17, 2019.

"Silk Road was a secret online marketplace for illegal drugs, hacking services, and a whole host of other criminal activity," Manhattan-based US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement.

"As he admitted today, Gary Davis served as an administrator who helped run the Silk Road marketplace. Davis’s arrest, extradition from Ireland, and conviction should send a clear message: the purported anonymity of the dark Web is not a protective shield from prosecution."