President Donald Trump has announced that he has fulfilled a campaign promise and signed a “full and unconditional pardon” for Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online pharmaceutical website Silk Road.
in post President Trump said on Truth Social that he called Ulbricht's mother and told her he had just signed a pardon for her son “in honor of her and the libertarian movement.”
On the first day of his speech at the Libertarian Party's national convention in May 2024, Trump vowed to “commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence to prison.''
“I just called Ross's mother, William Ulbricht, to honor the Libertarian movement that has so strongly supported her and me, and to be able to sign a full and unconditional pardon for her son Ross. “I told him I was happy for him,” Trump wrote. “The scum who worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics responsible for weaponizing modern governments against me. He was sentenced to two life sentences and 40 years in prison. That's ridiculous!
Ulbricht was found guilty of drug trafficking and “conspiracy to commit money laundering and computer hacking” in February 2015, and was sentenced to “two life sentences plus 40 years in prison” in May of the same year. According to of new york post.
During Ulbricht's trial, prosecutors argued that his website Silk Road, launched in 2011, connected drug sellers and buyers through anonymous transactions paid in Bitcoin. Ulbricht operated a website using the name Dread Pirate Roberts until it was shut down in 2013.
May 2015 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Press Release revealed Drugs allegedly “distributed” through the Silk Road website were linked to at least six deaths.
Libertarians see Mr. Ulbricht's lawsuit as government overreach.
Following President Trump's pardon of Mr. Ulbricht, Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle issued a statement congratulating Mr. Ulbricht and his family on the pardon and thanking Mr. Trump for “keeping his promise.” I was grateful.
“Ross Ulbricht has been a liberal political prisoner for over a decade,” McArdle said. “Saving his life was one of our top priorities and we are proud that it finally paid off.”
“Congratulations to you and your family, Ross,” McArdle added. “May God bless you and keep you safe in your newfound freedom. On behalf of the Libertarian Party, we present you with Honorary Life Membership. Mr. Press, Thank you. Trump kept his promise. This is an amazing moment in libertarian history.”
