- Net worth
- Unknown
- Crimes
- drug trafficking, conspiracy, money laundering
- Convicted of
- Conspiracy to commit narcotics trafficking; conspiracy to commit computer hacking; conspiracy to commit money laundering; continuing criminal enterprise
- Original sentence
- Life imprisonment plus 40 years (May 29, 2015)
- Time served
- ~9 years before pardon
Background
Ross Ulbricht created and operated Silk Road, a dark web marketplace that used Bitcoin for transactions. He was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.
The Case
Ulbricht was convicted of conspiracy to commit narcotics trafficking, computer hacking, money laundering, and continuing criminal enterprise. He created and operated Silk Road from January 2011 until October 2013. According to the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration, Silk Road was the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet: a dark web bazaar where thousands of vendors sold illegal drugs and other illicit goods to more than 100,000 buyers, generating over $200 million in drug sales and hundreds of millions in laundered proceeds. The site listed nearly 13,000 controlled-substance listings and also facilitated hacking services, forged identity documents, and malicious software. Ulbricht operated under the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts” and reaped more than $13 million in commissions from the illicit sales. He also solicited murders-for-hire to protect his operation; there is no evidence those murders were carried out.
His conduct harmed society and endangered the public. The narcotics distributed through Silk Road were linked to at least six overdose deaths. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York stated that Ulbricht “was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions.” The sentencing judge told Ulbricht that what he did “was terribly destructive to our social fabric.” He was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years and ordered to forfeit $183.9 million.
The Pardon
On January 21, 2025, President Trump granted Ulbricht a full pardon, commuting his life sentence.