From the Baltimore Sun (TNS), by Racquel Bazos
In a tweet to Truth Social on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump announced that he has pardoned the creator of the darknet bazaar Silk Road.
FILE: This courtroom sketch from February 4, 2015, depicts defendant Ross William Ulbricht during his trial in New York, as the deputy repeatedly utters the word “guilty.” President Donald Trump has pardoned Ulbricht. (Source: AP, File; Elizabeth Williams)Associated Press
Ross William Ulbricht, also known online as Dread Pirate Roberts, was charged in 2013 with conspiracy to distribute a controlled narcotic, attempted witness murder, and utilizing interstate commerce to commit murder for pay in the U.S. District Court in Maryland.
The former graduate student from Penn State was found guilty of founding and operating the Silk Road, an underground online drug marketplace that is essentially the Amazon of illegal drugs. Ulbricht received a life sentence.
Some of the same crazies who were involved in the weaponization of government against me in the current era were among the vermin that worked to convict him. He received 40 years in addition to two life sentences. “Funny!” the president posted on the internet.
Some libertarian activists and cryptocurrency proponents have been invigorated by Ulbricht’s arrest because they think government investigators went too far in constructing their case against Silk Road.
Ulbricht’s pardon follows Trump’s decision to pardon anyone accused or found guilty in relation to the January 6, 2021, insurrectionary attempt.
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015, Ross William Ulbricht’s supporters carry signs outside federal court in New York during the jury selection process for his trial. (Seth Wenig/AP Photo, file)AP
Silk Road was an illicit bitcoin marketplace for the purchase of narcotics and other unlawful goods. Investigators who tracked the cryptocurrency transactions calculated that Silk Road handled $1.2 billion in transactions.
This information was made possible by The Associated Press and PennLive files.