President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he issued a full pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the co-founder of the Silk Road website, who was given two life sentences.
Ulbricht’s pardon, which came after he spent ten years of his sentence in prison, was the culmination of a concerted effort on the part of individuals from various political affiliations.
Ross Ulbricht should be released from prison. A pardon is not necessary as his sentence can be commuted to time served. The double-life sentence plus 40 years is not appropriate for his crime of creating a website to facilitate anonymous, and sometimes illicit, commerce. https://t.co/PpMG6DBurw
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 2, 2023
During the 2024 presidential campaign, President Trump promised to free Ulbricht while speaking at the Libertarian National Convention. In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that he had fulfilled that promise.
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. 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. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!
Ulbricht founded Silk Road in 2011 as a platform for people to conduct trade anonymously. This included the sale of narcotics. Users used Bitcoin to conduct these transactions.
Federal law enforcement targeted the website, shutting it down in 2013. The authorities charged Ulbricht with narcotics trafficking, distribution of narcotics by means of the internet, narcotics trafficking conspiracy, continuing criminal enterprise (CCE), conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic in fraudulent identification documents, and money laundering conspiracy.
Ulbricht was sentenced in 2015 to two life sentences plus 40 years after a jury found him guilty. Then-prosecutor Preet Bharara celebrated the ruling. “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. 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,” he said.
The sentence was widely criticized as being far too harsh. Ulbricht had begged the judge not to levy such a harsh punishment. “I know you must take away my middle years, but please leave me my old age,” he wrote in a letter to the judge.
The judge disagreed, noting that “No drug dealer from the Bronx has ever made this argument to the court” and saying “It’s a privileged argument and it’s an argument made by one of the privileged.”
BREAKING: Here's the first image of Ross Ulbricht leaving prison as a free man 🧡 pic.twitter.com/j2vYeypmDs
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 22, 2025
Further complicating Ulbricht’s case was the revelation that two of the investigators in his case were later convicted for engaging in corrupt conduct. They were found to have stolen and extorted money while conducting the investigation.
One of the investigators used Silk Road to sell fake driver’s licenses while stealing $700,000 in Bitcoin from an administrator of the website. He demanded money from one of the website’s staff members in exchange for not arresting him.
Another investigator used his access to the website’s seized funds to steal Bitcoins. He took about $800,000 in the currency. Both of the agents pleaded guilty to various charges, including money laundering, wire fraud, and theft of government property. Their actions compromised the integrity of the investigation.