US President Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace using bitcoins, according to Reuters.
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.
Trump fulfilled another campaign promise by releasing Ulbricht, who was arrested in 2013. In 2015, the drug dealer was sentenced by a federal jury in Manhattan on charges including distributing drugs over the Internet and conspiracy to hack computers and launder money.
Ulbricht is serving his sentence in a federal prison in Arizona. Clemency attorney Brandon Sample hopes for his quick release.
After enduring over a decade of incarceration, this decision offers Ross the opportunity to begin anew, to rebuild his life, and to contribute positively to society.
Trump announced plans to commute Ulbricht’s sentence at the Libertarian National Convention in May. The Libertarian Party, which advocates for drug legalisation, had pushed for Ulbricht’s release, calling the case an example of abuse of power.
The Trump administration is expected to significantly reverse course on the regulatory crackdown on the cryptocurrency sector. However, Ulbricht’s arrest puts an end to what prosecutors called a global black market that was used to buy and sell illegal drugs and other illicit services totalling $214 million over a two-year period dating back to 2011.
The Silk Road website used the Tor network to communicate anonymously and accepted bitcoins as payment, which prosecutors said allowed users to hide their identity and location. Ulbricht later admitted that he created Silk Road as a “freewheeling, free market site.”
I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity.
