Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht Pardoned (bbc.com) 78
Slashdot readers jkister and databasecowgirl share the news of President Donald Trump issuing a pardon to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. An anonymous reader shares a report from the BBC: US President Donald Trump says he has signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who operated Silk Road, the dark web marketplace where illegal drugs were sold. Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 in New York in a narcotics and money laundering conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he had called Ulbricht's mother to inform her that he had granted a pardon to her son. Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht, sold illegal drugs using Bitcoin, as well as hacking equipment and stolen passports.
"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 said in his post online on Tuesday evening. "He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!" Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. During his trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht's website, hosted on the hidden "dark web", sold more than $200 million worth of drugs anonymously.
"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 said in his post online on Tuesday evening. "He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!" Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. During his trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht's website, hosted on the hidden "dark web", sold more than $200 million worth of drugs anonymously.
Could he be retried for one of the hit attempts? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ross Ulbricht was on trial for one of the attempted contract killings at the time he was sent to jail, but having just been put away for a very long time on other charges, that case was dropped, probably under the assumption that nothing crazy would happen like a reality TV star President attempting to please a bunch of loony cryptobros by issuing a pardon to a drug kingpin who attempted multiple contract killings.
Could he be retried on the same case again or perhaps one of the other well-documented attempted contract killings where the hitman was actually a scammer rather than an undercover fed?
Trump could of course pardon him a second time for the attempted contract killings specifically. Forcing him to do that is worthwhile, it would be...revealing.
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Had they only charged them with that and not running an internet site where people can truly communicate freely this wouldn't have been a problem, you dumb fascist.
Had he only created an Internet site where people could communicate freely and not intentionally created a black market e-commerce system, it wouldn't have been a problem, you straw man builder.
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He only knew the person by the username "altoid," but his real name was Curtis Green, one of his own employees. He paid $80,000 for Curtis to be tortured and then murdered, and was given staged photos of his supposedly tortured and then dead body to confirm that this was done.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/scienc... [www.cbc.ca]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/r... [forbes.com]
Any other questions?
Re:Could he be retried for one of the hit attempts (Score:4, Informative)
Correction: Ross knew Curtis only by the username "chronicpain," "altoid" was one of Ross' own pseudonyms.
Re:Could he be retried for one of the hit attempts (Score:4, Informative)
The "victim" Curtis Greene himself does not believe Ross ordered the hit and has said so many times. That should tell you something.
The two dirty FBI agents (later convicted and jailed) had full control of silk-road website by then, including DPR's account. There so much fruit of the poison tree it may as well be hemlock. That's why the prosecution dropped that aspect of the case, it could never be proven. But they spread so much smoke, uninformed people keep repeating the unprovable inuendo.
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I'm sure that before issuing the pardon, the Trump team looked at whether those attempted contract killing charges had strong merit, and decided they didn't. That would have been the prudent thing to do ... uh, ok so they didn't.
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Depends on the wording of the Pardon. If the pardon covers all federal crimes, then he's off the hook (unless a state takes issue). I suspect his worry would come from a state more than another federal charge.
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Could he be retried on the same case again or perhaps one of the other well-documented attempted contract killings where the hitman was actually a scammer rather than an undercover fed?
No. The charges were dismissed with prejudice because the prosecutor never touched them again after dude was sentenced to life in prison.
This shit is almost comical. Dude really let a guy who paid almost a million fucking dollars to have people offed out.
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This shit is almost comical. Dude really let a guy who paid almost a million fucking dollars to have people offed out.
It's even better. The convicted felon rants about all the drugs coming into the country by "illegals", yet this guy was enabling tons of drugs to come in without being checked.
Consistency was never the felon's strong point.
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Could [Ulbricht] be retried on the same case again or perhaps one of the other well-documented attempted contract killings where the hitman was actually a scammer rather than an undercover fed?
I don't think he can be re-tried because of the double-jeopardy rule. As for other things he hasn't been tried for yet -- well, I suppose he could.
Trump could of course pardon him a second time for the attempted contract killings specifically. Forcing him to do that is worthwhile, it would be...revealing.
Yes. In fact, Trump could pardon him prophylactically before he has even gone to trial. And yes, that would be revealing.
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When is trump going to pardon El Chapo, this John Galt of the free pharmaceutical world?
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Never, that's a complete apples and oranges difference - El Chapo didn't use cryptocurrency plus he's Mexican!
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Damn, I should have known I'm so wrong!
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Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán maybe gets pardoned tomorrow. Agent Orange must free up space in prisons to make room for Biden, Harris, their families and their supporters.
I noticed Trump signs those executive orders with a very thick felt tip pen. Signing with a crayon might be more suitable for his style.
No because none were real (Score:3, Insightful)
Ross Ulbricht was on trial for one of the attempted contract killings
They never had proof of any hit attempts, and one of the guys he supposedly was thinking of hitting, was working to get him out!
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He just released a guy who facilitated gun and drugs smuggling and tried to hire hitmen to eliminate his competition.
Trump home shopping network (Score:2)
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I am going to need to get really stoned for the next four years.
Was marijuana removed from the controlled substances list? Did Trump sign that order too?
Do we need a mention on Slashdot for every new executive order from Trump? Maybe save them up for the end of the week? The end of the day even? At first this was not a big deal as it was new but it's getting a bit silly now.
This rate of executive orders is not likely to last all through the next four years, so I don't know if anyone would need to be stoned for that long. Maybe they'd want to, but then that's someth
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Appeal to the Mises Caucus? (Score:2)
Is this a Libertarian thing?
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Pretty much. Some of the loonier among them see him as a persecuted figure who did nothing wrong, usually involving plugging their ears and shouting LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU if you mention the well-documented attempted contract killings.
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Wow, the Libertarians actually won at something. Fascinating.
Yes, it is (Score:3, Informative)
Is this a Libertarian thing?
It is. [wikipedia.org]
Additionally, Ross Ulbricht's sentence was well-known as excessive. It was excessive in comparison to many more extreme crimes that resulted in lesser sentances
And note that for the contract killing, prosecutors believe that no murder actually occurred (so it would be attempted murder and not actual murder), and the judge ruled that there was "preponderance of evidence" for the murder, which would not be enough for a conviction. So we say that he is innocent because people are innocent by default.
Als
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His sentence wasn't excessive considering the crimes for which he was found guilty.
Many people have been sentenced to decades in prison, even life, for much less.
Re: Yes, it is (Score:1)
You obviously think excessive criminal punishment and warrantless spying is a good progressive look, but it's not.
let me translate that for you... (Score:5, Insightful)
"The upstanding and honorable legal scholars, zealously pursuing justice, that worked to convict him, were some of the same excellent activist attorneys who were involved in the modern day investigation of into all of my admitted crimes, and i'm whining that they're holding those things against me," Trump said in his post online on Tuesday evening. "He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Only because he provided horribly addictive drugs to children, and other folks who desperately needed help!"
Re:let me translate that for you... (Score:5, Insightful)
What stood out to me was something different. It's ridiculous how, even with something like this, Trump does his best to make it about himself.
He's gotta be one of the most insecure people on this planet.
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One of. Musk too.
Re: let me translate that for you... (Score:2)
Cool. So which laws are important now? (Score:4, Insightful)
I guess Americans will find out through trial and error over the next four years which laws are actually real and which ones are not.
Re: Cool. So which laws are important now? (Score:2)
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I prefer "Heil Twitler"
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You have seen the state of the US Congress?
They can barely agree on what day of the week it is let alone pass any meaningful laws.
Re: Cool. So which laws are important now? (Score:2)
So, if he managed to get a super majority and Congress working together, he actually will have done something good during his presidency?
That might require the raising of a toast from someone so afflicted by TDS as myself to this POS if he did in gratitude.
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Congress created this mess of executive orders having so much authority.M
Nope. That would be the courts. Ever since Washington signed the first EO the courts have said they are legal within a narrow range.
As for Congress, their only option is to create a law denying a president the option for EOs. If they can grant certain powers to a president, they can also remove powers.
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Don't be silly, nothing will go to trial.
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The ones that fuck over brown people.
Or ... (Score:2)
Trump said in his post online on Tuesday evening. "He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!" Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking.
If it was just about the sentence, Trump could have commuted it rather than pardoning him.
"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 said in his post online on Tuesday evening.
Oh... I get it. I guess those prosecutors can't do anything right... /s
And, some crimes should just be ignored.
All that work and he called you SCUM (Score:1)
All that work and he called you SCUM and released your catch.
ACAB 1312, totally support this action.
Find a different career, no one likes pigs ya failure.
Re: All that work and he called you SCUM (Score:1)
So brave
the Hell's Angels (Score:2)
There's a place for people like you. (Score:2, Funny)
But maybe there's hope for you yet. When none of your insanity comes to pass, when you finally stop strawman-ing Republican's views, when you gain an adult's perspective on their positions instead of that of a child, you'll join us moderates in the center and help to make this world and Mars better places.
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Setting records in illegal crossing is not law and order. Stores shutting down because of rampant, unprosecuted theft is not law and order. Preemptively pardoning your entire administration is not law and order. Lying to the voters about Biden's senility, in the face of evidence, is not law and order. But I understand how you can come to the opposite conclusion, the govt did make sure that social media will protect you from hatefacts if they didn't want "law & order" to descend upon them like a pile of
Good (Score:3)
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This is Trump doing the right thing for the wrong reason. I'll still celebrate it, but can recognize that the reason for the pardon is completely ridiculous.
Remember Aaron (Score:3)
Opposite world (Score:1)
Apologies. I appear to have jumped universes accidentally.
The Cheeto in Chief is going to make the next 4 years... equal parts horrifying and depressing.
Not the sociopath we need but definitely the sociapath we deserve.
Reminds me of a Dylan lyric (Score:2)
“Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed / To live in a land where justice is a game” -- Bob Dylan (Hurricane)
SNOWDEN and ASSANGE (Score:1)
Did Trump miss those two or were their DoJ prosecutors different than the ones that went after him?
Or was it their "crimes" didn't involve crypto, although Assange getting exfiltrated information on the web and Snowden whistleblowing both seem related.
And that was Day Two.
Lol, but why?! (Score:2)
I have the feeling he wants to project himself as the top mafia boss - "swear allegiance to me and I got your back no matter what". A whistleblower on the other hand is useless to him, even dangerous - pardoning one could encourage someone to leak dirt on his administration as well.
Given everything else... (Score:2)
Is Trump selling pardons? Looks like everything else is getting sold off too. The rioters getting pardons looks like building a rent-a-mob for next time he needs them
This is what a fascist takeover looks like, kids (Score:4, Insightful)
Wonder what the rise of the SS was like?
Wonder what you would have done as a normal, decent German in 1933?
Now you know.
Re: This is what a fascist takeover looks like, ki (Score:1)
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> Wonder how Hitler started?
Yes, that question has been asked for many times since 1939, and people have debated and discussed it and globally it was thought the German people were misled, or stupid, or beguiled or something.
But now we know.
Worse yet, Hitler "only" hated the jews. The US Hitler, DJT, hates Jews (except his daughter and her husband), Blacks, Mexicans, and Muslims. He also hates anyone who disagrees with him or tries to look into his unlawful actions. Worse yet, he wants to use the powe
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Bigots gonna bigot but it amuses how close this got to a Douglas Adams quote:
In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
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Not the first time we've had a President with diminished capacity (Wilson, Reagan).
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Not the first time we've had a President with diminished capacity (Wilson, Reagan).
Trump
Why now? SBF is next. (Score:2)
Of all the wrongs he wants to right, was this one worthy of day-2 action? Hmmm. I wonder how much crypto changed hands?
What is the over-under betting line on what SBF needs to pay for his pardon? I think 20 million ought to do it.
Ghostbusters (Score:2)
Hmmm .... (Score:2)
"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,"... During his trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht's website, hosted on the hidden "dark web", sold more than $200 million worth of drugs anonymously.
This is the guy who came out swinging in 2016 and ran on a campaign promise to weaponise the government in for the purpose of having the Democratic presidential candidate locked up in jail. Talk about having chip on your shoulder, Trump's chip has to be the size of a barroom table.