Jan. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening said he issued a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark web Silk Road marketplace of illicit drugs.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright [sic] 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,” Trump said in a statement published on his Truth Social social media platform.
Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in May 2015 for his operation of Silk Road, which was active between January 2011 and October 2013.
The site operated as a criminal marketplace where people could buy and sell illegal goods, including narcotics, with the use of Bitcoin. Prosecutors said hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services were distributed to more than 100,000 buyers during the website’s short life. It also laundered hundreds of millions of dollars.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement states Silk Road contributed to at least six overdose deaths in the United States.
Prosecutors said Ulbricht reaped more than $13 million from the illicit sales conducted through his site. He also solicited six murders-for-hire in order to protect his criminal enterprise, though prosecutors said there is no evidence the murders were ever carried out.
Trump, in his statement, called those of the Justice Department who worked to convict Ulbricht “scum” and were “some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me.”
Trump was convicted of election-related fraud by a New York court and was being prosecuted in federal court for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results when elected in November. The federal cases were closed as it goes against the Justice Department to prosecute a sitting president.
Among Trump’s first actions upon taking office on Monday was to pardon the more than 1,500 of his supporters who were convicted of attacking the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. Some 140 police were injured protecting the building that day.
Trump’s pardon of Ulbricht reflects his ongoing embrace of cryptocurrency and its community. Meanwhile, Ulbricht is seen by many within the Libertarian Party as a political prisoner who tried to break the status quo of society with his pioneering decentralized marketplace.
During a speech in late May before the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington, D.C., Trump vowed to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists, whom he called “hostages,” and commute the sentence of Ulbricht to time served if they vote for him.
The crowd erupted into cheers at the announcement. Many waved signs that read “Free Ross.”
“He’s already served 11 years,” Trump said. “We’re going to get him home.”
Ulbricht on X expressed gratitude for all those who voted for Trump after he won the election in November.
“I trust him to honor his pledge and give me a second chance,” Ulbricht said on X in November.
“After 11+ years in darkness, I can finally see the light of freedom at the end of the tunnel.”
The Libertarian Party celebrated Ulbricht’s release in a statement on Tuesday.
“This pardon does more than liberate Ross — it liberates the imagination,” it said.
“It says, maybe, just maybe, there’s room for second chances in this dystopian hellscape.”
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