Ross Ulbricht, arrested in 2011, created the website Silk Road, which sold drugs, as well as providing other illicit services and generated US$200 million
US President Donald Trump (Republican Party) pardoned Ross Ulbricht, sentenced to life in prison for creating the Silk Road drug sales website. More than US$200 million was handled in illicit transactions through the platform.
Ulbricht founded Silk Road in 2011, was arrested in 2013 and convicted in 2015. The site was used by more than 100,000 people to buy and sell drugs, as well as hire or offer other illicit services. Payment could be made with digital currencies. The information is from .
Na rede social Truth Social, Trump who called Ulbricht’s mother to tell her about the pardon granted. He called the sentence of two life sentences plus 40 years “ridiculous”.
“The scum who worked for his conviction are the same lunatics who were involved in instrumentalizing the modern era government against me”, said the president, adding that the pardon is complete and unconditional.
According to the Trump administration will work to reverse the strong repression of the cryptocurrency sector imposed under the administration of Joe Biden (Democratic Party). Pardoning Ulbricht was a campaign promise from the president, made during a speech in May 2024.
Ulbricht was arrested in a New York library in 2011. He was found with a notebook that showed the Silk Road home screen, as well as records about transactions made on the site.
The prosecutor’s office believes that people died from the use of drugs sold on Silk Road. Furthermore, authorities point out that Ulbricht did everything to try to protect the site, something that includes possible murders of people who could be a threat to the portal. THE however, indicates that there is no evidence that the deaths actually happened.
