The defendant is the younger brother of the defendant N. and the youngest of six children, four of which are girls. The parents of the defendant came from Syria and fled to Germany twenty years ago. The family was housed in refugee centres for several years. The father had studied and worked as a teacher in Syria but his education was not recognized in Germany. The mother worked as well. Shortly after the family’s arrival in Germany, the defendant was born in Oldenburg but received the Syrian citizenship. The parenting style of the family was strict and conservative including corporal punishments. The father further physically assaulted the mother, which led to their separation when the defendant was 15, after which the children, together with the mother, were housed in a separate centre. After one year, the family was brought back together. The school days of the defendant were characterised by regular relocations so that bonds to children of the same age were hardly possible. Due to bad performance and rule-breaking, the defendant was expelled from school in the ninth class. At the time of the proceedings, the defendant attended evening courses to obtain his leaving certificate. The defendant did not have a regular income. He did not consume drugs, have any health problems nor prior convictions. He was arrested on 23 February 2016.

The defendant is the older brother of the defendant I. He lived with his family in Syria until he was ten. He arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 1996. The defendant only received a permit in 2010 when his first daughter was born. Until then the defendant was able to stay due to a temporary suspension of deportation. He had two further children with his partner at the time of the proceedings, one of which was born after he was arrested. The defendant was only able to look for a job after receiving his permit. He had several jobs at temporary work agencies and ventured into self-employment with numerous businesses mainly in the gastronomy sector, none of which were profitable. He had EUR 10.000,00 in debts. He did not consume drugs, nor have any health issues. The defendant was previously convicted five times for fraud in a total of six cases as well as of insult in conjunction with attempted coercion.

At the time of the proceedings, the defendant lived with his parent and three brothers. Due to a malformation of his left foot, lower leg and knee, he had a walking impediment and has been wearing a prosthesis since he was five. Otherwise, the defendant did not have known health issues. During his apprenticeship to become an office clerk, the defendant started selling gaming consoles via the internet. By reference of a friend, the defendant registered on the forum “A-Network” and was introduced into the scene through forum contacts. He started by selling illicitly obtained login-data that were subsequently used to fraudulently order items online. Via the forum “D2”, the defendant met I., who made online drug trafficking attractive. From 23 February to 10 March 2016, the defendant was in pretrial detention. Afterwards, he successfully completed his apprenticeship. Subsequently, he started working at the company he trained with and helped at his father’s landscaping business. He had tried drugs before but did not take them regularly. A proceeding charging the defendant with theft was closed without conviction.

The defendant was born in Russia and moved to Germany when he was one year old. He was the second of three children and lived with his parents and younger sister at the time of the proceedings. His upbringing was strict and included corporal punishments. The defendant was mobbed in primary school due to his origin and his family’s weaker financial state. He did not have any such problem in secondary school. After middle school, the defendant started an apprenticeship to become an IT specialist, which he terminated after four months. In the following years, he remained unemployed during which time he suffered from depressions and was treated in a psychiatric clinic after a suicide attempt in March 2014. A year later, the defendant started another apprenticeship to become an IT specialist at a different company. At that time, he had a large friend group of eighteen people, most of which were younger than him, as well as a girlfriend. He was introduced to the “Underground Economy” scene through contacts he obtained as a technical administrator of the forum “X”. The defendant did not consume drugs or have prior convictions.

The defendant spent the first two years of his life in Poland. His family, including his three brothers, and him moved to Germany in 1996. Living with his family was characterized by the massive alcohol consumption by his father and regular fights between his cohabiting but separated parents. The defendant did not receive any support or recognition for his success in school and did not have a good relationship to his parents. After successfully completing middle school, the defendant began a training to become an IT assistant at a vocational school. He was, however, not able to graduate from there due to the difficult family situation. He was only able to complete (another vocational) school at a later point in time. Shortly after, he accepted an apprenticeship at a computer firm, where he suffered from psychosomatic complaints due to a lack of instructions. He left the position on 23 August 2016 and accepted another trainee position at a different firm. The defendant was not very sociable and did not have close friends. He spent most of his free time in front of the computer. He was introduced to “Underground Economy” as a result of his activities on other forums, where he created trial access to share with other users free of charge. When this was no longer possible, he thought of creating his own forum. No prior convictions were known.

The defendant was born prematurely suffering from blood poisoning. When he was four years old, the defendant moved to France together with his parents, where he spent his childhood. He did not get along with children of the same age and was mobbed in school. He was introduced to a forum on computer games, which awoke his interest in the technical aspects of such forums. Hence, he was given moderator positions on different forums and quickly came into contact with the “Underground Economy” forums concerned in this case. He later started an apprenticeship in IT and distanced himself from the forums. The apprenticeship was, however, terminated by his employers, resulting in his return to the “Underground Economy”. Eventually, he was contacted by N2 and recruited for d.cc and g.me. Before the proceedings, the defendant resumed his apprenticeship. The defendant consumed unknown amounts of cannabis regularly as well as extasy occasionally. He suffered from meningitis in the seventh and eighth grade but there were no long-term consequences. There have not been any prior convictions.