Trump pardons Silk Road operator: Ross Ulbricht set free

Shafaq News/ US President Donald Trump announced that he had granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark web marketplace.

Ulbricht, who was convicted in 2015 for operating the site, had been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

The Silk Road, launched in 2011, allowed users to anonymously buy and sell illegal goods, including drugs, hacking tools, and stolen identities, using Bitcoin as its currency. The platform was notorious for facilitating transactions that totaled over $200 million. Silk Road had nearly one million registered users before its shutdown in 2013.

Users accessed the site via the Tor browser for anonymity and conducted transactions using Bitcoin. The site operated on the dark web, hidden from standard search engines. Authorities shut down the website in 2013, leading to Ulbricht's arrest.

On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump defended his decision to grant the pardon, calling Ulbricht’s sentence “ridiculous.” The former president also criticized the prosecutors involved in the case, accusing them of working against him. "The scum who worked to convict him are the same fools who armed the government against me," Trump wrote.

Trump revealed that he had called Ulbricht’s mother to inform her of the decision. “It was time for justice to prevail,” Trump said.

Ulbricht’s arrest and subsequent trial were heavily publicized, with federal prosecutors accusing him of operating a criminal empire that contributed to the proliferation of illegal drug sales and other illicit activities on the dark web. His conviction included charges of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking. In addition, prosecutors alleged that Ulbricht solicited six murder-for-hire services, although no evidence surfaced to suggest that any killings took place.

Judge Katherine Forrest, who sentenced Ulbricht, was particularly critical of his actions. She remarked that Ulbricht, despite his high education and technical skills, was "not much different from any other drug dealer." Her statement underscored the gravity with which the court viewed his role in enabling the sale of illicit substances and services.