President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the notorious Silk Road online marketplace, who was serving a life sentence for running an underground platform that facilitated more than $200 million in illegal transactions using bitcoin.
The pardon, announced via Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, fulfills a campaign promise to address Ulbricht’s sentencing, which some critics had labeled excessive. Ulbricht, 40, was arrested in 2013 and convicted in 2015 in a case that became a milestone in cryptocurrency-related prosecutions.
“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern-day weaponization of government against me,” Trump wrote. He described the pardon as “full and unconditional” and said he personally informed Ulbricht’s mother of the decision.
Ulbricht was released from a federal prison in Arizona late Tuesday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Support and Controversy Surrounding Clemency
“After enduring over a decade of incarceration, this decision offers Ross the opportunity to rebuild his life and contribute positively to society,” said Brandon Sample, Ulbricht’s attorney, in a statement.
The move comes as Trump’s administration shifts its stance on cryptocurrency regulation, contrasting the more restrictive policies under former President Joe Biden.
The Libertarian Party, which has long called for drug decriminalization and highlighted Ulbricht’s case as an example of government overreach, applauded the decision. Trump had previously announced his intent to commute Ulbricht’s sentence during a Libertarian National Convention speech.
Silk Road’s Role in Cryptocurrency’s Dark Web
Silk Road operated as a black-market hub between 2011 and 2013, connecting over 100,000 users who bought and sold illegal goods, including drugs and hacking services. Prosecutors estimated the transactions totaled $214 million, facilitated through the anonymity of the Tor network and bitcoin payments.
Ulbricht ran Silk Road under the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a nod to the character in the film *The Princess Bride.* Prosecutors argued he took extreme measures to maintain the marketplace, including soliciting murders to protect its operation, though no evidence linked him to actual killings.
A jury in Manhattan convicted Ulbricht on charges of drug trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering in 2015. At his sentencing, Judge Katherine Forrest described the case as “unprecedented,” citing the platform’s scale and impact.
Despite his acknowledgment of creating Silk Road, Ulbricht’s defense claimed he had handed off control of the site and was later framed as a scapegoat.
“I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity,” Ulbricht said during his sentencing.
