Silk Road Creator, Ross Ulbricht, has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
"On Friday Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in creating and running Silk Road’s billion-dollar, anonymous black market for drugs. Judge Katherine Forrest gave Ulbricht the most severe sentence possible, beyond what even the prosecution had explicitly requested. The minimum Ulbricht could have served was 20 years...
Ulbricht’s sentencing likely puts the final seal on the saga of Silk Road, the anarchic underground market the 31-year-old Texan created in early 2011. At its peak, the Dark Web site grew to a sprawling smorgasbord of every narcotic imaginable—before Ulbricht was arrested in a public library in San Francisco in October of 2013. Eighteen months later, he was convicted in a Manhattan court on seven felony charges, including conspiracies to traffic in narcotics and launder money, as well as a “kingpin” charge usually reserved for the leaders of organized crime groups....
...In emotional statements at the hearing, the parents of drug users who had overdosed and died from drugs purchased from the Silk Road called for a long sentence for Ulbricht. “I strongly believe my son would still be alive today if Mr. Ulbricht had never created Silk Road,” said one father whose 25-year old son had died from an overdose of heroin, requesting “the most severe sentence the law will allow.”
I do have to say I disagree with that parent's comment above, regarding their son being alive if the Silk Road didn't exist. People who want to do drugs will seek it out in whatever medium is available.
The defense’s arguments about Ulbricht’s character and his idealistic motives were also undercut by accusations that Ulbricht had paid for the murder of six people, including a potential informant and a blackmailer. Those accusations never became formal charges in Ulbricht’s case—five out of six of the murder-for-hires appear to have been part of a lucrative scam targeting Ulbricht, with no actual victims.
But those murder accusations nonetheless deeply colored Ulbricht’s trial, and strongly influenced his sentence. “I find there is ample and unambiguous evidence that [Ulbricht] commissioned five murders to protect his commercial enterprise,” Forrest said, leaving out one alleged attempted murder for which Ulbricht was charged in a different case.
A life sentence seems pretty fair in this case and in line with similar convictions.
if the murder accusations are true, good, let him rot! otherwise I don't agree with the sentence.
I kind of get it.
He did act as a middle man to provide dangerous narcotics to drug dealers who then gave it to people who OD'd on them. I am for the legalization of things like cannabis that while yes, they can be abused, are relatively safe drugs. I also think some prescription drugs should be eased a little. But some things are so dangerous, that they really need to be controlled. To me, it is pretty much the same thing as selling a gun on the black market that someone uses to commit a murder.
I can't believe he did $1.3 billion in sales in just a few years before he was arrested. I realize that he didn't bank all that, but I would be interested to now what his net worth was when he got caught.
Reaction of his lawyer and family:
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 05-30-2015 at 05:35 PM.
It's an interesting case study for sure. He probably should serve some time, the fact that they were so eager to go to life shows the backwards nature of US drug policy compared to other crimes there.
What about guys who sell guns at shows with no background check that are used to kill people or are used by mass murderers?
Oh right, guns = FREEDOM!
Funny, I never thought about this before. According to US law, guns don't kill people, but drugs do.
Hrrrmmmm...
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People/victim family members who show up at sentencings and ask for the maximum penalty always leave me with an uncomfortable feeling. I realize they've suffered great losses, but I'm always impressed by the rare story of a family matter who asks for leniancy for the accused or who states they get no satisfaction from the person going away for x number of years as they realize that won't bring person x back. Vengeance is what most families seem to latch onto.
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That was really interesting. It will make a great film one day. Really convenient that Ulbricht left so much evidence, including a daily diary chronically his metamorphosis.
I don't have much sympathy for him at all after reading that. While he didn't murder anyone outright, he thought that he was carrying out hits out on people. And when the sister of the man who OD'd on heroin confronted him, his lack of remorse showed his character.
I also loved how the DEA crossed the line between good and bad in order to draw him out. Not saying that I agree with the tactics, but it makes for pretty good drama. I wonder if that will help his appeal process at all.
Also interesting that one of the hackers working for the teams that defeated Ross Ulbricht was from Anonymous.
It was funny (although maybe a little mean) that when the police searched Green's home, they found a dildo and purposely left it propped pointing straight up on the bed for his daughter to see when she was cleaning up.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 05-30-2015 at 11:44 PM.
Silk Road creator sentenced to life in prison
