On Tuesday, President Trump issued a pardon to the notoriety-tinged figure, Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind the notorious dark web marketplace, Silk Road. Infamously recognized for its prolific dealings in illegal substances, Trump highlighted the pardon on his Truth Social post.
This unexpected turn of events was dedicated to Ulbricht’s mother and the Libertarian movement, according to Trump’s announcement. Industry observers see this as a fulfillment of a promise made by Trump during his 2024 campaign trail, where he vowed before the Libertarian National Convention to commute Ulbricht’s life sentence.
Ulbricht was handed down a lifetime prison term by a federal judge in 2015 for his role as Dread Pirate Roberts, the clandestine operator of Silk Road. The genesis of Silk Road was to serve as a Libertarian case study, and there has been persistent lobbying by the party for Ulbricht’s absolution from his charges.
Many within the Libertarian fraternity saw Ulbricht’s life sentence as an explicit example of governmental overstepping boundaries.
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