Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison

[Blackmet]

>>Successful prison breaks happen only in movies.
Well no, according to the last days - http://news.yahoo.com/sweep-small-town-2-escaped-killed-comes-empty-053750275.html

[bryant.coleman]

And not everyone gets raped in prison but you seem to be quite preoccupied with that for some reason.

Well... prison rape is a big problem every where, not just in the United States. And people like Ross Ullbricht, who previously had no direct contact with the career criminals, will be especially vulnerable.

>>Successful prison breaks happen only in movies.
Well no, according to the last days - http://news.yahoo.com/sweep-small-town-2-escaped-killed-comes-empty-053750275.html

People escape from prison every now and then. But in 99% of the cases, they will be caught within the next 24 hours. Successful prison breaks are extremely rare, outside the Hollywood world.

[BillyBobZorton]

And not everyone gets raped in prison but you seem to be quite preoccupied with that for some reason.

Well... prison rape is a big problem every where, not just in the United States. And people like Ross Ullbricht, who previously had no direct contact with the career criminals, will be especially vulnerable.

>>Successful prison breaks happen only in movies.
Well no, according to the last days - http://news.yahoo.com/sweep-small-town-2-escaped-killed-comes-empty-053750275.html

People escape from prison every now and then. But in 99% of the cases, they will be caught within the next 24 hours. Successful prison breaks are extremely rare, outside the Hollywood world.

These 2 guys are still undetected. I can't believe they even left a funny note saying "have a nice day" to the guards. It's totally Hollywood tier stuff.

[funkenstein]

Well, this sentence is hard enough. Yet quite appropriate as for me, no one forced him to sell weapons and drugs.

No one forced him, and he never did. 

[funkenstein]

As a soldier he has to take the oath of allegiance after the basic training. As soon as he did this (and I assume he did), when he stole this secret material and made it accessible to "the enemy", he commited a clear treason. No doubt about it.

I think you mean oath of enlistment.
The fact that you use quotes there also makes me think you -do- have doubt about it.  

So some kids who didn't know what was going on over there got to see some graphic footage of already past "action".  Who cares?  Shit just using the US dollar seems more treasonous than that.  

"oath of enlistment" is correct, sorry.
The quote was set, because "the enemy" is meant as an unknown identity, which is relative to the identity we are talking about here (USA). The enemy of the USA can be a hero for the Russians and vice versa.
Now the point is indeed this oath, which is clearly set to bind the soldier on millitary law. As soon as he spoke the words, there is no turning back and handing over classified data to the "enemy" is called high trason in a lot of countries, not only the USA.

Do you really think any of the "classified data" that he published for the US public and US military to see helped any enemy?  Or is this one of those things where, here's some sucker, lets beat him up to make ourselves feel powerful even though it makes us look like impotent losers to anyone with a brain?  

[gentlemand]

Straight to ADX Florence where he'll be buried alive for several years. No human contact and a tiny patch of sky to look at.

Who want human contact, if it is only with hardcore criminals such as rapists, robbers and murderers? I still want him to try prison break.  

Look a little bit into solitary and it quickly becomes clear that denial of any human contact will have massive consequences for your mental health. Even a few weeks or months might fuck you up for life, let alone decades which is what some people have experienced.

I've known a few folks who went to prison. A fair few made some good friends there. Some actual peaceful socialising does take place despite the calibre of guest.

[QuestionAuthority]

Successful prison breaks happen only in movies. So I am a little bit skeptical. But at the current rate of drug legalization (just look at Portugal and Uruguay) around the world, I hope that within 10-15 years, the United States will start legalizing the soft drugs such as weed and shrooms. Still, that doesn't guarentee his release, as he is accused of other crimes as well.

The drug thing is just a part of his impressive charges.

According to this http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/01/02/no-relief-convicted

The US is one of the few places that doesn't tend to take future law changes into account with convicts. The law at the time remains the law for them.

If he was convicted at state level there might be more wiggle room.

That's right, the United States is the one of the only countries in the world without retroactive ameliorative relief. The U.S. is also the only country in the world that in practice sentences juveniles to life. You better be a perfect model citizen and very lucky or you will be punished by one of the most harsh criminal justice systems in the world. What I mean by lucky is, if you walk into a party and there's a pile of marijuana on a table and people are snorting something - run as fast as possible. If they raid that party you could be convicted along with everyone else even if you're not high. If they make the drugs legal in that state later too bad for you. You still aren't getting out of prison.

[forevernoob]

You wouldn't catch me living in the US, but there are hordes of people around the world who dream of living there. Compared to Europe it's a truly bizarro combination of advancement in certain areas and quasi medievalism in others but I'll take it over living in a puddle of shit in the Central African Republic most days of the week.

If Ross had been living in China when he was caught they would have probably executed him by shooting him in the back of the head. If he had bee living in a US state with the death sentence they would have probably executed him too. I don't know which is worst, life in a US prison, or a bullet in the head.

How easy would it have been for him to get citizenship in a different country though? I know it's extremely difficult to get US citizenship, but would it have been any easier for him to get citizenship in a no extradition treaty country with a more lenient justice system?

Ross had ties to Costa Rica and Australia. I don't think gaining citizenship in some thrid world country would be a problem for him.
He was a experineced traveller from what I can gather.

He made a huge mistake when he thought he could run a criminal enterprise from the US and get away scot-free.

[DarknetMarkets]

>>Successful prison breaks happen only in movies.
Well no, according to the last days - http://news.yahoo.com/sweep-small-town-2-escaped-killed-comes-empty-053750275.html

Those people have been free for a shockingly long time, but prison breaks are still almost non-existent. I'd say it's a far more realitic option for Ross to get a pardon from President Rand Paul or President Bernie Sanders (knowing full-well how unlikely those options are).  

[dKingston]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

[AGD]

Variety Jones promised to help him get out of jail with a helicopter, but Ross also promised to never save logfiles, so what to expect from a bunch of liars.

[Bit_Happy]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

...and he's gone!


A few alien probes up his butt, would be much better than life in prison.

[EternalWingsofGod]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

Well with the exception that someday in the future they perform a Colombia and start legalizing all sorts of drugs and switch to a regulated model, not that I expect to see that happen for a few more decades.

[gentlemand]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

Well with the exception that someday in the future they perform a Colombia and start legalizing all sorts of drugs and switch to a regulated model, not that I expect to see that happen for a few more decades.

Still won't happen even if everything was legalised. They don't release people due to law changes. And he's not just some guy selling pot from his garage. By operating SR he was thumbing his nose at the powers that be. They have long, long memories for that type of thing.

[Bit_Happy]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

Well with the exception that someday in the future they perform a Colombia and start legalizing all sorts of drugs and switch to a regulated model, not that I expect to see that happen for a few more decades.

Still won't happen even if everything was legalised. They don't release people due to law changes. And he's not just some guy selling pot from his garage. By operating SR he was thumbing his nose at the powers that be. They have long, long memories for that type of thing.

Agreed that Ross has a bleak future, but if "if everything was legalised" a libertarian President could pardon over a million people in jail for victimless crimes. (?)
Do pardons have to be for individuals, or can a USA President do a sweeping pardon of all people convicted of certain crimes, both State and Federal?

[BADecker]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

Well with the exception that someday in the future they perform a Colombia and start legalizing all sorts of drugs and switch to a regulated model, not that I expect to see that happen for a few more decades.

Still won't happen even if everything was legalised. They don't release people due to law changes. And he's not just some guy selling pot from his garage. By operating SR he was thumbing his nose at the powers that be. They have long, long memories for that type of thing.

That's part of the point.

People existed before the current government, right? What was legal then, before the time of the government? Legal didn't have anything to do with anything. It all depended on what was lawful, by common law, among the people.

Government came along and started making things legal and illegal. What about the things that government hasn't judged on? Is it legal to carry a comb in your pocket? Which kinds of combs are legal and which aren't?

How many molecules of breathing air is it legal to breathe? Is this number the same for people who live in the mountains at high altitudes as it is for those who live below sea level in the Death Valley? Or isn't there anything legal or illegal that the government has done regarding breathing air?

The point is, since it would take untold volumes of legal codes if government were to judge legality or illegality about everything that exists, perhaps government should make one, all-encompassing law that says that the people are slaves in any way that government decides, right? Of course, government has already made slavery illegal.

So, since government has made slavery illegal, how can they make any law apply to anyone without enslaving that person to some extent? Here's how. If a person harms someone or damages his property. It's is the only way.

Why can government enslave someone who has harmed another or damaged his property? Because that person enslaved someone else by harming him or damaging his property. Thus, to uphold freedom for all, government has the duty to stop the slave-making person from enslaving those he has enslaved. If government enslaves somebody by making laws and forcing that person to obey them, isn't it government who is enslaving people against their (the government's) own laws?

In Ross's case, where is the person who was harmed by what Ross did, or where was the property that Ross damaged? There wasn't any. How do we know? Because nobody got on the stand in court and showed the harm or damage while attesting to the fact that Ross did it. Since there wasn't any harm or damage done, government is doing the harm and damage against Ross by enslaving him, which is against their own laws.

[Zainyyy]

nobody is going to Pardon him .. it would be political suicide. He has more chance of being abducted by aliens from the prison yard ..

Well with the exception that someday in the future they perform a Colombia and start legalizing all sorts of drugs and switch to a regulated model, not that I expect to see that happen for a few more decades.

Still won't happen even if everything was legalised. They don't release people due to law changes. And he's not just some guy selling pot from his garage. By operating SR he was thumbing his nose at the powers that be. They have long, long memories for that type of thing.

Agreed that Ross has a bleak future, but if "if everything was legalised" a libertarian President could pardon over a million people in jail for victimless crimes. (?)
Do pardons have to be for individuals, or can a USA President do a sweeping pardon of all people convicted of certain crimes, both State and Federal?

probably have to do a sweep, or else biased towards the rich and famous

[gentlemand]

Agreed that Ross has a bleak future, but if "if everything was legalised" a libertarian President could pardon over a million people in jail for victimless crimes. (?)
Do pardons have to be for individuals, or can a USA President do a sweeping pardon of all people convicted of certain crimes, both State and Federal?

That's an interesting question. I would've thought it could only be used for individually considered cases otherwise the prez would be accused of discarding entire laws which makes a mockery of the existing mockery.

If someone did do that they'd probably be voted straight out again by the hang 'em high crew.

I know they can't do anything about state and local level convictions.

[QuestionAuthority]

Agreed that Ross has a bleak future, but if "if everything was legalised" a libertarian President could pardon over a million people in jail for victimless crimes. (?)
Do pardons have to be for individuals, or can a USA President do a sweeping pardon of all people convicted of certain crimes, both State and Federal?

That's an interesting question. I would've thought it could only be used for individually considered cases otherwise the prez would be accused of discarding entire laws which makes a mockery of the existing mockery.

If someone did do that they'd probably be voted straight out again by the hang 'em high crew.

I know they can't do anything about state and local level convictions.

The law as written:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Sweeping pardons are not specifically forbidden or granted under article two of the Constitution but I can't imagine a situation where multiple applications could not be reviewed and acted on separately by the Executive Office of the President. The Presidents advisors would review the applications and suggest a pardon. All he has to do is sign them. It's not that much work for him to do them separately.

It's not uncommon, however, for a state governor to pardon (grant clemency) to all prisoners on death row before leaving office. Several hundred are usually pardoned at once.

[Gleb Gamow]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/30/us-judge-sentences-ex-mexican-drug-cartel-leader-to-30-years-in-prison-100/

BEAUMONT, Texas –  A former leader of Mexico's notorious Gulf drug cartel has been sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. prison and fined $100 million.

Juan Francisco Saenz-Tamez was sentenced Tuesday by a judge in Beaumont, Texas, on drug and money laundering convictions.

Saenz-Tamez is a 23-year-old resident of the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas (tahm-uh-LEE'-puhs). He was arrested in October during a shopping trip to Texas.

Saenz-Tamez pleaded guilty in January to distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine; conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors say Saenz-Tamez was responsible for shipping at least half a ton of cocaine and 90 tons of marijuana into the U.S. Investigators believe the drug cartel laundered $100 million.

This dude's lucky he didn't have a website selling his drugs via bitcoins. He may have gotten the death penalty if such were the case.