US President Trump grants full pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht

US President Trump grants full pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he has granted a “full and unconditional pardon” to Ross Ulbricht, the convicted creator of the Silk Road, a notorious online black market that facilitated the trade of illegal drugs and other illicit goods. Ulbricht has spent over a decade behind bars after being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in running the marketplace.

Launched in February 2011, Silk Road quickly became one of the most significant hubs on the dark web for the sale of illegal narcotics, counterfeit currencies, hacking services, and other contraband. The marketplace is estimated to have generated more than $200 million in revenue during its nearly three years of operation before it was dismantled by authorities in October 2013.

Ulbricht, who operated the site under the alias ‘Dread Pirate Roberts,’ was arrested shortly after Silk Road was shut down. He was convicted in 2015 on charges including money laundering, narcotics trafficking, and computer hacking. Despite his conviction, Ulbricht has maintained his innocence, arguing that his involvement was misunderstood and that he never intended to cause harm.

In November 2021, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it had confiscated over 50,000 Bitcoin in connection to the 2012 hack of the Silk Road platform, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures in US history. The hack was part of a broader investigation into the marketplace's operations.

Additionally, James Ellingson, a former Silk Road drug vendor known by the alias 'redandwhite', was charged with narcotics trafficking and money laundering offenses after he claimed to have arranged the murders of five individuals on Ulbricht's behalf. However, the DoJ later clarified that there was no evidence to suggest these murders actually took place.

Trump's pardon comes after he granted pardons and commuted sentences for more than 1,500 individuals, including those involved in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

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