President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, something the president promised on the campaign trail to do “on day one.”
“I just called the mother of Rose William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the liberal movement that so strongly supports me, I am pleased to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon for her son Rose,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday. “The scumbags who tried to convict him are the same lunatics who participated in the weaponization of modern government against me. He was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison. Ridiculous!”
People hold placards supporting jailed darknet market Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht as former President Trump attends the Libertarian Party National Convention in Washington, D.C., on May 25, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Ulbricht was convicted because his website, which was set up in 2011 and used cryptocurrency for payments, was used to sell illegal drugs, even though he did not sell any illegal drugs himself.
