Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison

[DarknetMarkets]

Ross William Ulbricht, legendary creator of the original darknet market The Silk Road, has been sentenced today in federal prison to Life in Prison.

Ulbricht became a hero to many in the darknet community, as well as the broader Bitcoin and libertarian movements, after his arrest in November 2013 revealed him to be the ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’, the pseudonymous creator and operator of the Silk Road. His arrest came after a months long investigation by multiple law enforcement departments in the United States.


https://darknetmarkets.org/news/silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht-sentenced/

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[valerian253]

What the f'n f?!

[spazzdla]

..America has become the image of oppression.

[AgentofCoin]

Life is pretty severe, but I guess they needed to send a message.
All other controllers of deepweb black markets have now been put on notice.

[redhawk979]

Well I guess its true: Governments can't stop Bitcoin. They can just imprison its users instead.

Sorry for your Ross.

[Balls]

How long is life in the States? Literally life?

Life is pretty severe, but I guess they needed to send a message.
All other controllers of deepweb black markets have now been put on notice.

What good will sending this sort of message do? Do they really think that people are going to stop creating darknet sites now? Good luck trying to take down decentralized ones that should be coming soon. I think this just shows how much we really need them.

[jmurjeff]

Yeah was it 15 or 25-life? No way he got life without parole that is just insanity! I mean he had a damn website he wasn't out molesting and killing people.

Federal crimes no longer have parole. Congress did away with parole in the late 80's. A sentence in federal court of life means you are going to die in prison.

[BADecker]

Aw, that's just government's way of promoting Bitcoin and operations like the Silk Road. They often do this. You watch. All kinds of Silk Road operations will pop up just because of this. Actually, they are already. Even MaidSafe might get going.

[TaunSew]

More than 20 years - one link suggested he was convicted on different counts and it added up to 40 years, no parole.

So should be out in his 60s.  He will have spent more life in prison than outside of it.

[jmurjeff]

More than 20 years - one link suggested he was convicted on different counts and it added up to 40 years, no parole.

So should be out in his 60s.  He will have spent more life in prison than outside of it.

Did you not read the sentencing? He is not getting out in his 60's. The only way he is getting out is if on appeal they can reduce his sentence. But I don't think the prosecution is looking to make any deals in this case. The judge is going to make sure they hammer the worst sentence possible. Unless they can knock some charges off but it is not looking good. King pin charges are pretty stiff and it usually one of the worst when it comes to drugs. Maybe a white house petition can get him a pardon someday.

[SpanishSoldier]

Ross William Ulbricht, legendary creator of the original darknet market The Silk Road, has been sentenced today in federal prison to Life in Prison.

Can he appeal to the higher court ?

[thebitcoinquiz.com]

Well I guess its true: Governments can't stop Bitcoin. They can just imprison its users instead.

Sorry for your Ross.

I don't think its legitimate enough to call Ulbricht a normal bitcoin user. He was more of a drug dealer, this is a case of a drug retailer being put behind the bars and not a "bitcoin user" being imprisoned. They had to send out a strong message and I this punishment is completely justified.

How long is life in the States? Literally life?

There life in literal terms means "life".

[jmurjeff]

Ross William Ulbricht, legendary creator of the original darknet market The Silk Road, has been sentenced today in federal prison to Life in Prison.

Can he appeal to the higher court ?

He can always appeal to a higher court. They can keep going till they get to the supreme court. You start at the lower courts so you do not blow your options in one shot. The higher courts do not have to hear your appeal though. The supreme court gets 10k+ cases appealed to them every year. They only take on about 80 cases.

[gentlemand]

Well I guess its true: Governments can't stop Bitcoin. They can just imprison its users instead.

Sorry for your Ross.

He would've got exactly the same sentence if they'd been using webcam captures of their balls as currency.

I don't have much or any sympathy for him. Any sentient being should know what he was getting himself into and how much of a target he would be.

However you want to look at it, life without parole is pretty insane though.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Jesus Christ that's ridiculous.
He's just been sentenced to a longer jail term than you'd get for a double homicide or something.
It's absolutely insane, he never handled any drugs himself, he was just an intermediary source, man in the middle type thing.
It's awful, I feel for the guy.
Can he appeal this at all?

[koshgel]

Ross William Ulbricht, legendary creator of the original darknet market The Silk Road, has been sentenced today in federal prison to Life in Prison.

Can he appeal to the higher court ?

There will definitely be appeals.

The sentence is so harsh, because they want to make an example out of him. Only the government can sell drugs and murder people that cause problems.

[dopecoindude]

Ross William Ulbricht, legendary creator of the original darknet market The Silk Road, has been sentenced today in federal prison to Life in Prison.

Ulbricht became a hero to many in the darknet community, as well as the broader Bitcoin and libertarian movements, after his arrest in November 2013 revealed him to be the ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’, the pseudonymous creator and operator of the Silk Road. His arrest came after a months long investigation by multiple law enforcement departments in the United States.


https://darknetmarkets.org/news/silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht-sentenced/

Pretty stunning . Like really stunning.

[croTek4]

Life in prison without the possibility of parole... Meanwhile cops are murdering our citizens at an alarming rate and not even being charged. The United States of America, Sad to say this is my country.

[mcplums]

Why has no one mentioned the fact that he paid to get various people killed? Surely this was the primary reason for the lengthy sentence?

Not even the BBC news page of this story ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32941060 ) mentions this. I don't understand it at all.

[koshgel]

Why has no one mentioned the fact that he paid to get various people killed? Surely this was the primary reason for the lengthy sentence?

Not even the BBC news page of this story ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32941060 ) mentions this. I don't understand it at all.

He was convicted of paying for 6 murders. There was no proof of any of these murders.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/29/technology/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-prison-sentence/index.html

The judge also said there was "no doubt" that Ulbricht had paid for murders. Prosecutors have alleged he commissioned six murders-for-hire while operating Silk Road, though there is no evidence that these murders were carried out.