- President Donald Trump signed a “full and unconditional” pardon for Ross Ulbricht
- The Silk Road operator had received two life sentences and 40 more years.
- Trump said the same “lunatics” were behind the fight against him
President Trump signed a “full and unconditional” pardon for Silk Road founder and operator Ross Ulbricht.
Silk Road was a famous dark web marketplace that sold illegal drugs, hacking tools, and stolen passports during its operation between 2011 and 2013.
Ulbricht, who has been in prison since 2015, was arrested in 2013 and subsequently convicted in 2015 on charges of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. The result was two life sentences and 40 more years without parole.
Trump pardons Silk Road operator
The president informed Ulbricht’s mother about the pardon via a phone call, TRUTH Social was told.
“I just called Ross William Ulbricht’s mother to let her know that, in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have signed a full and unconditional pardon for her son, Ross.” the post said.
Trump described the sentence as “ridiculous” and added that the same “lunatics” who convicted Ulbricht were also involved in the government’s “modern weaponization against [himself].”
Silk Road was a dark website that could be accessed through the decentralized and open source Tor browser. He supported anonymous transactions through Bitcoin, something he stated during his sentencing was important to his desire to “empower people to make decisions in their lives and have privacy and anonymity.”
The site is believed to have generated more than $200 million in drug sales during its short two-year lifespan, but Ulbricht acknowledged the site’s unintended consequences. Court documents also indicated that the site had nearly one million registered users.
“He was trying to help us move toward a more free and equitable world,” he said in 2021 (via SiliconANGLE).
Ulbricht, who used the pseudonym ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’, was also accused of soliciting six murders for hire, however no evidence was found.
The now-president had previously committed to commuting Ulbricht’s sentence immediately if he was re-elected, which Ulbright shared with X on May 26, 2024.
No further comments from Trump or Ulbricht have been shared at this time.
