US President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned the father of the Silk Road black online market Ross William Ulbricht and called his word “ridiculous. “
Trump criticised the severity of Ulbricht’s sentence and said that” the scum” that worked to convict him were some of the” same lunatics” who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against him.
” I just called the family of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so highly, it was my delight to have just signed a complete and absolute pardon of her child, Ross,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
” The filth that worked to convict him were some of the exact maniacs who were involved in the present day weaponization of state against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 times. Ridiculous! ” he added.
This mercy fulfils Trump’s plan commitment. During his address at the Libertarian Party’s national agreement in Washington, DC, in May 2024, Trump committed to reducing Ulbricht’s word upon taking office, reported CNN.
” If you vote for me, on Day 1 I will ride the statement of Ross Ulbricht to a word of day served,” Trump said at the moment. ” He’s previously served 11 times. We’re going to find him house. “
Who is Ross William Ulbricht?
Ulbricht had been serving a living word for establishing what the Justice Department considered” the most advanced and extensive criminal industry on the Internet today. “
The Silk Road function ended in October 2013 when the FBI arrested Ulbricht after he apparently revealed his email address online. A judge found him guilty in February 2015 of many crimes including cash laundering, drug smuggling and computer hackers.
Ulbricht’s imprisonment in 2013 ended the functions of what law enforcement officials identified as an exceptional online market. This system enabled nearly 4,000 drug vendors to transition from street-level trading to internet operations, reaching over 100,000 customers across various nations, including Argentina, Australia, the United States and Ukraine, Guardian reported.
During his three-year management of Silk Road, Ulbricht accumulated$ 18m in bitcoins through commission fees from the platform, which featured extensive product listings categorised under” Cannabis”,” Psychedelics” and” Stimulants”. Operating under the surname” Dread Pirate Roberts” – a character from The Princess Bride– he facilitated drug deals exceeding$ 183m in price. Law enforcement officials reported that many casualties were linked to materials purchased through the Silk Road system.
What is Silk Road?
The Silk Road system evolved into the Internet’s most advanced legal industry, functioning as an intensive black-market exchange where users often traded illegal drugs and several unlawful goods and services. During its administrative time, Silk Road facilitated thousands of drug dealers and improper vendors in distributing large quantities of drugs and other illegal items to over 100,000 customers, whilst enabling money laundering of hundreds of millions in improper proceeds, US justice department said in a statement.
Ulbricht consciously ran Silk Road as a program for private illegal trade beyond law enforcement’s approach. He implemented two major anonymisation methods: operating on the” Tor” system, a professional Internet infrastructure concealing users ‘ IP addresses, and incorporating a Bitcoin payment system to vague user names and locations during purchases.
As of September 23, 2013, Silk Road’s homepage featured approximately 13,000 controlled substance listings under categories including” Cannabis,”” Dissociatives,” “Ecstasy,”” Intoxicants,”” Opioids,”” Precursors,”” Prescription,”” Psychedelics,” and” Stimulants. ” Between November 2011 and September 2013, law enforcement conducted over 60 undercover purchases of illegal substances from vendors across multiple countries, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Austria, and France.
Six documented overdose deaths worldwide have been connected to Silk Road’s narcotics trade. These included Jordan M. , a 27-year-old Microsoft employee found deceased at his computer whilst logged into Silk Road, and two 16-year-olds, Preston B. from Perth, Australia, and Alejandro N. from Camino, California, who died from synthetic LSD purchased on the platform. Additional casualties included Bryan B. , aged 25, from Boston, Massachusetts, Scott W. , aged 36, from Australia, and Jacob B. , aged 22, from Australia.
