Key Takeaways
- Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, a promise he made during his re-election campaign.
- The pardon has garnered support from liberals and cryptocurrency advocates who believe Ulbricht’s life sentence is excessive.
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US President Donald Trump has granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous Silk Road Market. The decision arrived later than expected, but fulfills a key campaign promise Trump made in his bid for re-election.
Trump announced the pardon in honor of Ross Ulbricht’s mother and the liberal movement, saying he had informed Ross Ulbricht’s mother of his decision through Truth Social. He criticized the prosecutors involved, saying it was “absurd” to sentence them to a double life sentence plus 40 years.
“Words cannot express how grateful we are,” the family’s Free Ross campaign account wrote of X. “President Trump is a man of his word and he just saved Ross’s life. Ross is a free man!!!!!”
In May 2024, Trump promised in a speech at the Libertarian National Convention that he would commute Ulbricht’s sentence on his first day in office. He later reiterated his promise at the Bitcoin 2024 conference. sometime in July Many people have come to believe that he will carry on now that he is in office.
“Vote for me and I will commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence to prison from day one. He has already served 11 years. We will take him home,” Trump said in a speech at the Libertarian National Convention.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It’s hard to put into words how I feel at this moment after 11 years in prison. Thanks to your unwavering support, I was able to get a second chance,” Ulbricht said the next day. I expressed my gratitude through .
Ulbricht has served more than 11 years in prison since being sentenced to double life without parole in 2015 for creating and operating the Silk Road, known for selling illegal drugs and other illicit goods.
His case has garnered widespread attention and support from libertarians, cryptocurrency advocates, and those who argue his punishment is overly harsh.
Elon Musk responded to a call from user X on Monday, saying Ulbricht was set to be “liberated.”
Angela McArdle, chairwoman of the Libertarian National Committee, also said Trump’s advisers assured her that a pardon for Ulbricht would be forthcoming.
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