Trump pardons Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht
US President Donald Trump said he has signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who ran Silk Road, a deep web marketplace that sold illegal drugs.
In 2015, Ulbricht was convicted in New York of drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he had called Ulbricht’s mother to inform her that he had pardoned her son.
Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht, used the virtual currency Bitcoin to sell illegal drugs, hacking equipment and stolen passports.
“The scumbags who tried to convict him are the same lunatics who participated in the weaponization of modern government against me,” Trump said in an online post. “He was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison. Ridiculous!”
During the trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht’s website was hosted on the hidden “dark web” and more than $200m (£131m) worth of drugs were sold anonymously.
The Silk Road was named after the historical trade routes that spanned parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.
The site gained notoriety through media coverage and online discussions. But users can only access the site through Tor, a system that allows people to use the web without revealing their identity or country.
FBI court documents say the site has nearly 1 million registered users, but investigators say they don’t know how many active users there are.
District Judge Catherine Forrest said in sentencing Ulbricht, who had two university degrees, that he was “no better than any other drug dealer”.
She said the website was his “carefully planned life’s work.”
The judge noted that the lengthy sentence also sent a message to imitators that there would be “very serious consequences.”
