Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for drug trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering
President Trump announced Tuesday that he signed a full pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of running the dark web marketplace used to deal drugs.
Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 of seven drug and conspiracy charges for his role in creating Silk Road, including drug trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering. Ulbricht, who operated the site under the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,” was also accused of soliciting multiple murders for hire, according to the Associated Press.
“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me,” the president continued. “He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”
In October 2013, the FBI shut down Silk Road, a now-defunct marketplace that allowed users to anonymously buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods and services using bitcoin. The site made about $214 million in sales, with Ulbricht taking more than $13 million in commissions from the transactions, said prosecutors during the trial.
“Make no mistake: Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people,” said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, when announcing his sentence in 2015. “Ulbricht went from hiding his cybercrime identity to becoming the face of cybercrime and as today’s sentence proves, no one is above the law.”
Although he was a convicted criminal, Ulbricht was praised as a hero among some in the cryptocurrency and libertarian spheres. According to Semafor, amid his run for reelection back in May, Trump pledged to Libertarian Party members that he would “put a libertarian in my cabinet” and commute Ulbricht’s life sentence on his first day in office. “It’s time to be winners,” said Trump, asking if the third party delegates wanted to continue settling for single-digit protest votes. “I’m asking for the Libertarian Party’s endorsement, or at least lots of your votes.”
The pardon is the latest to come from the president following his inauguration. On Monday, Trump issued a blanket pardon to 1,500 individuals who were convicted of offenses or faced charges relating to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.