A 40-year-old Bellevue man known as “NOD” on the online black market site Silk Road, where he was considered to be in the top 1 percent of sellers of narcotics, was sentenced to five years in prison and four years of supervised release in U.S. District Court today.

Steven L. Sadler sold cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine through Silk Road, which used Tor technology to conceal the identity of online users through encryption and redirecting of Internet traffic through multiple volunteer services, and used the Postal Service as a major delivery system for his illegal enterprise. He was arrested in late 2013 following an investigation into packages found containing heroin and cocaine.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said he is “troubled by this new method, new frontier of drug dealing that is creating a new crop of victims” during sentencing, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.

Sadler was making as much as $70,000 each month selling cocaine online, and was found in possession of more than a kilogram of both cocaine and heroin, as well as 400 grams of methamphetamine, during a search of his apartment on July 31, 2013. A .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol was also found hidden under a mattress, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A postal inspection service inspector first removed a package from circulation in September 2012, according to court documents, which was identified by a narcotics dog as containing a controlled substance. Heroin was reportedly found hidden inside a birthday card and scented markers. Multiple other packages were removed from the mailing stream over the course of the investigation, from various post offices and UPS stores.

Tracking devices were placed on vehicles owned by Sadler and also driven by his girlfriend, Jenna White, who is also alleged to have been involved in the sale and delivery of illicit drugs. The vehicles were tracked to numerous post office locations around the region, including Bellevue, Renton, Olympia, Lakewood, Spanaway, Tacoma, Puyallup, Issaquah, Federal Way, SeaTac, Kirkland, Auburn, Mercer Island and more. Postal workers also identified Sadler as a frequent sender of packages under false names, documents state.

Silk Road was shut down by the FBI on Oct. 2, 2013, and its operator, Ross W. Ulbright was arrested on charges of narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering. Sadler and White were also arrested at that time.

In the last four months of sales documented on Silk Road, the criminal complaint against Sadler states he sold more than 2,600 grams of cocaine, nearly 600 grams of heroin and 105 grams of methamphetamine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports Sadler sold nearly $1 million in drugs during his entire time on Silk Road.

Under the plea agreement Sadler took in May, he faced a mandatory five years in prison and up to 40 years based on the volume of drugs sold; the attorney’s office had recommended he serve seven years for conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also states Sadler is forfeiting a 2007 BMW 525 and $4,200 seized during executed searches.