Not jumping in to defend him, and I’d probably feel differently if I was one of the ones caught up in this, but after giving it some thought, the way I look at it is this:
Despite the arms length sanitized way we purchase these things, they’re still illicit, and not that much different than buying from a drug dealer.
If you went to a street corner, hand over a few hundred dollars, and just as the dealer was about to hand you the product the cops come rushing over, you both run off, the money and goods are dropped and of course the cops grab it.
A year later you see him again.
Does he owe you?