US President Donald Trump has granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the notorious dark web marketplace Silk Road.
Ulbricht, 40, was arrested in 2013 for facilitating the sale of illicit drugs using cryptocurrency and was later sentenced to two life terms in prison plus 40 years in 2015.
The pardon was granted “in honor of the Libertarian Movement,” which supported Trump strongly, as stated by the President himself on TruthSocial.
Trump revealed that he had personally called Ulbricht’s mother to inform her of the pardon, stating, “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that… it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross.”
On the campaign trail, Trump had vowed to commute Ulbricht’s sentence “on day one” if re-elected, gaining enormous support from Ulbricht’s loved ones and fans.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara had previously described Ulbricht as “a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people”. However, Trump criticized the prosecution, stating, “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.”
Ulbricht’s clemency lawyer had expressed hope that Trump would deliver on his promise, stating, “We do expect President Trump to grant clemency… Ross, his family, and all his supporters are forever grateful to President Trump for his willingness to show mercy to Ross”.
