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President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to grant a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 in a narcotics and money laundering conspiracy, with the judge sentencing him to life in prison.
Ross Ulbricht Receives Unconditional Pardon
President Donald Trump announced the news on Tuesday. Silk Road was a dark web website that the FBI called one of the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplaces on the internet. Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he had spoken to Ulbricht’s mother on his first full day in office and called his prison sentence ridiculous.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross. he scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”
The Ulbricht family thanked Trump, with the Free Ross campaign account posting,
“Words cannot express how grateful we are. President Trump is a man of his word, and he just saved Ross's life. ROSS IS A FREE MAN!!!!!”
The Charges Against Ulbricht
The FBI shut down the Silk Road website after authorities arrested Ulbricht. The website sold illegal drugs using Bitcoin, hacking equipment, and stolen passports. Ulbricht was later found guilty of several charges, including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking. Prosecutors said the website, hosted on the dark web, sold over $200 million worth of drugs anonymously. They also said he had solicited six murders-for-hire, including one against a former employee. However, there was no evidence that the killings were actually carried out.
Ulbricht was convicted for engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics, conspiring to distribute narcotics, conspiring to commit money laundering, conspiring to traffic in false identity documents, and other charges and was serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. The judge stated that Ulbricht was “no better than a drug dealer,” calling the website his “carefully planned life’s work.”
Former FBI Special Agent Milan Patel called the website the “Amazon of drug sites,” stating,
“We saw murder-for-hire postings, hacking-for-hire postings, which was, 'Hey, pay me two bitcoin, and I'll hack into your ex-wife or ex-husband's email account. It was totally anonymous. And you could never trace it back to the person who asked for it.”
A Priority For Bitcoiners
Freeing Ross Ulbricht has been a priority for Bitcoiners. Supporters have petitioned for his sentence to be commuted for many years, calling it disproportionately harsh. He also has strong support in Libertarian circles, who note that his vision for the Silk Route website was rooted in the Libertarian ideals of free markets and individual freedom. Both themes resonate with parts of the Bitcoin community. The Libertarian Party also advocated for his release, calling the sentence an example of government overreach.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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