Convicted founder of the famous Silk Road darknet marketplace Ross Ulbricht may receive a full presidential pardon ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s transition.
Three sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast that Ulbricht’s case file is among the documents of convicted felons being reviewed by the White House counsel’s office in line with the next round of pardons.
Two of the sources stated that the president is personally aware of Ulbricht’s case and has privately shown signs of sympathy for him.
Although it is not clear whether the president has reached a final decision for Ulbricht, the report revealed that the Silk Road founder has strong influencers within Trump’s inner circle, including some presidential advisers, criminal justice reform advocates, among others.
Weldon Angelos, a former music producer and ex-federal inmate told Daily Beast in an interview that the process to grant Ulbricht a presidential pardon started way back in February.
According to Angelos, Ulbricht’s family had reached out to him at the time seeking support for the case, to which he obliged their request.
Angelos added that he forwarded all documents related to Ulbricht’s case to his contact in the White House and he is “hopeful that President Trump will commute his sentence in its entirety,” while adding:
This case has perhaps more support than I’ve seen in any case of this kind.
Ross Ulbricht, who holds a master’s degree in material Science, became famous in 2011 after he created Silk Road, a dark web marketplace that uses bitcoin to facilitate the sale of illicit goods, such as drugs, firearms, etc.
Silk Road came under the radar of law enforcement agents when it went viral in the U.S., as authorities made notable efforts to unmask the identity of the platform’s main administrator ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’ – Ulbricht’s online identity.
Ulbricht’s identity was uncovered, leading to his subsequent arrest. He was charged with money laundering, drug trafficking, and computer fraud.
In 2015, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole – a verdict described as “excessive” for a non-violent crime by several criminal reform activists.
