Ross Ulbricht, the brain behind the notorious Silk Road platform, is now free, thanks to an executive order from President Donald Trump granting him a full pardon. Ulbricht had been serving two life sentences plus 40 years in an Arizona maximum-security prison since 2015. His conviction arose from running the Silk Road, a darknet marketplace facilitating illegal goods transactions, primarily using Bitcoin.
Trump, at 78, announced the pardon on Truth Social, revealing he personally informed Ulbricht's mother. In his message, he acknowledged the support of the Libertarian Movement and shared his belief that Ulbricht's punishment was excessive and politically motivated.
Ulbricht's arrest in October 2013 marked a significant moment for cryptocurrency and law enforcement. Known online as "Dread Pirate Roberts," he launched Silk Road in 2011, which ended in charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit hacking. Despite a New York jury convicting him on all counts, efforts to overturn his sentence failed until Trump's intervention.
The pardon was influenced by Senator Rand Paul's letter urging Trump to reconsider the "vastly disproportionate" sentence for Ulbricht's nonviolent offenses. Paul noted that major offenders on the platform received lighter sentences, which played a role in changing Trump's mind.
Trump, a self-proclaimed 'crypto president,' also criticized those involved in the prosecution, drawing parallels with political challenges he faced.
