President Trump said Tuesday night that he had given a “full and unconditional” pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an online black market which enabled users to buy and sell illegal drugs. The president announced his decision on Truth Social.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright 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,” he wrote, misspelling Ulbricht’s last name. Ulbricht, who used the nom de plume “Dread Pirate Roberts” to hide his identity, was sentenced in 2015 to life in prison for founding and operating Silk Road between January 2011 and October 2013.
The narcotics distributed on Silk Road have been linked to at least six overdose deaths across the world, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ulbright, who is now 40, was 31 at the time of his conviction. Trump called his conviction “the modern day weaponization of government.
He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!,” wrote Trump. Silk Road was used by thousands of drug dealers to distribute “illegal drugs” to more than 100,000 buyers and to “launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions,” according to ICE.
