US president considers jailed Silk Road founder for a pardon
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown:
- President Donald Trump is reportedly considering granting Silk Road founder a pardon before he leaves office.
- Ulbricht was sentenced to double life imprisonment in 2015, for charges that include money laundering.
The notorious founder of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, is getting clear hopes of a second chance to live, as the president of the United States, Donald Trump, is reportedly considering him for clemency. The Silk Road founder has since been jailed by the US authorities, serving a life sentence for facilitating money laundering in Bitcoin (BTC), among other charges, through the dark web marketplace.
The US might pardon Silk Road founder
Following the information today by The Daily Beast, which cited about three persons familiar with the case, the US government has been reviewing the case of the Silk Road founder lately. The sitting US president was also informed about Ulbricht’s case, including the pleas on his behalf. Already, President Trump “has at times privately expressed some sympathy for Ulbricht’s situation,” as two of the sources reported.
It’s not certain of president Trump will grant the long-jailed Silk Road founder a pardon. However, it’s worth noting that Ulbricht got influential backing from the country’s social and political circle. Thus, the Silk Road founder could possibly be enlisted for the next round of pardons and commutations, among others. This should come before the inauguration of the new US president, Joe Biden.
Ulbricht sentence
Ross Ulbricht was responsible for a billion-dollar dark web marketplace that reportedly allowed the trading of illegal items and money laundering with Bitcoin. He began operating Silk Road in 2011 but was later halted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2013, as the marketplace grew so popular. It uses the Tor anonymity network to conceal information that will lead to the tracking of users.
Two years after the Silk Road closure, the founder was sentenced to double life imprisonment.
