Trump Pardons Ross Ulbricht, Creator of Silk Road Dark Web Marketplace

Trump Pardons Ross Ulbricht, Creator of Silk Road Dark Web Marketplace

United States President Donald Trump has given a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the imprisoned creator of the dark web Black Market Silk Road.

Trump stated on Tuesday Ulbricht’s mother had contacted him to inform her that he had made the “full and unconditional pardon” for her son whom he sent to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole in 2015 because of his involvement in the operation of the illegal marketplace.

“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponisation of government against me,” Trump stated via his Facebook site, Truth Social.

“He was handed two life sentences plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”

Ulbricht 40, Ulbricht, was found guilty on seven counts in connection with his operation of Silk Road, which facilitated the selling of illegal drugs as well as other illegal goods with Bitcoin which included the distribution of narcotics and engaging in a shady business.

US Prosecutors claimed that the website had been employed to aid in more than 1.5 million transactions totalling $213 million, with more than $183 million in sales of drugs.

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Prosecutors also claimed Ulbricht was involved in the arranging of the murder of individuals who he believed were threat to his business however, he was not accused of the alleged murder-for-hire plots, and no evidence was offered that anyone actually been murdered.

When he sentenced Ulbricht, US District Judge Katherine Forrest said that the California man’s actions were an “carefully planned life’s work” and that Ulbricht is “no better a person than any other drug dealer”.

Although Ulbricht admitted to having created Silk Road, his lawyers asserted that he’d transferred the control of the “economic experiment” to others after a short period of time and was enticed to shoulder the burden for the real operators at the same time that authorities were preparing to close in.

Ulbricht’s case was presented for its illustrative example of excessive government intervention by crypto enthusiasts and libertarians who believed that he was not being treated fairly as he was not selling illegal products himself, and was held responsible for the transactions of those who used the website.

Then, in May Trump declared at the annual convention for the Libertarian Party, a fringe party with none of its representatives in the US Congress Trump said Ulbricht’s sentence would be commuted at “day one” of his administration should he be elected.

After the election of Trump on November 4, Ulbricht thanked voters who voted for the Republican on his behalf.

“I believe in him to keep his word and grant me another chance. After 11years of darkness, I am finally able to glimpse the light of liberty towards the light at the end” the man wrote in a blog post on X.

Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman well-known for his support of libertarian causes, was one of many Ulbricht supporters who greeted the announcement about the pardon.

“Ross Ulbricht has been released from the presidency of President Trump with an unconditional pardon! Thank you for delivering your promise to me and the other people who have fought for Ross the freedom he deserves as well, Monsieur. President!” Massie, who represents an area in Kentucky she wrote in a blog on X.

Source: Al Jazeera