I would have more sympathy for Ross Ulbricht had he not *allegedly* tried to hire a hitman to kill an associate of his.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_UlbrichtFederal prosecutors alleged that Ulbricht had paid $730,000 in murder-for-hire deals targeting at least five people,[29] allegedly because they threatened to reveal Ulbricht's Silk Road enterprise.[36] Prosecutors believe no contracted killing actually occurred.[29] Ulbricht was not charged in his trial in New York federal court with any murder-for-hire,[29][37] but evidence was introduced at trial supporting the allegations.[29][38] The evidence that Ulbricht had commissioned murders was considered by the judge in sentencing Ulbricht to life, and was a factor in the Second Circuit's decision to affirm the life sentence.[38] A separate indictment against Ulbricht in federal court in Maryland on a single murder-for-hire charge, alleging that he contracted to kill one of his employees (a former Silk Road moderator),[39] was dismissed with prejudice by prosecutors in July 2018, after his New York conviction and sentence became final.[40][41]
Life sentence was to make an example out of Ross so it's unfortunate for him that any of these "Free Ross" NFT collections will not be enough to overturn his conviction. He didn't have to be involved in any drug trading for him to face the brunt of any consequences. God forbid there is a trading platform that does not allow the US to gain tax revenue, because let's face it, this was never about the drugs.
