US President Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who is the founder of the darknet platform Silk Road, whose users sold prohibited goods, including narcotic drugs and fake documents, on condition of anonymity. Ulbricht had been serving a life sentence without parole since 2015, when a jury found him guilty on multiple charges.
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Let us remember that the Silk Road platform, which could only be accessed through the Tor network, was one of the first to provide the opportunity for the commercial use of bitcoins. However, sellers and buyers on the platform used cryptocurrency to sell and purchase prohibited goods. Ultimately, the site’s activities were stopped, and its founder was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Over the years, Ulbricht has become quite a celebrity among members of the libertarian movement and cryptocurrency supporters who supported Trump last year. In their opinion, the punishment Ulbricht received was disproportionate to the crimes committed. In addition, in other cases, the court handed down significantly lighter sentences for similar crimes.
Although the criminal offenses against Ulbricht were nonviolent, the trial judge considered numerous deaths related to drugs sold through the Silk Road site. During the trial, Ulbricht denied his guilt. However, during his arrest, indisputable evidence of guilt, stored on Ulbricht’s laptop, was confiscated.