President Donald Trump has pardoned Ross William Ulbricht, who created the infamous dark web marketplace Silk Road and was serving a life sentence.
Trump announced the decision on his Truth Social platform: “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honour 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.”
Trump called Ulbricht’s sentence “ridiculous” and criticised the legal officials who secured the conviction, accusing them of also targeting him during his presidency.
The FBI arrested Ulbricht in October 2013 after tracking his email address. A jury found him guilty in February 2015 of money laundering, drug trafficking and computer hacking. The Justice Department had described Silk Road as “the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet today.”
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This pardon fulfils Trump’s campaign pledge. Speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington, DC, in May 2024, he promised: “If you vote for me, on Day 1 I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served. He’s already served 11 years. We’re going to get him home.”
Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle welcomed the news, calling Ulbricht “a libertarian political prisoner for more than a decade.”
Operating under the name “Dread Pirate Roberts” (from “The Princess Bride” film), Ulbricht launched Silk Road in 2011. The site let users trade drugs and illegal goods anonymously using Bitcoin, attracting nearly a million users worldwide, with 30% from the US.
At Ulbricht’s sentencing, then-US Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people. Ulbricht went from hiding his cybercrime identity to becoming the face of cybercrime and as today’s sentence proves, no one is above the law.”
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