Ross Ulbricht is the jailed founder of Silk Road, the darknet marketplace. Ross Ulbricht founded the darknet marketplace website Silk Road in 2011 and ran it until his arrest in 2013.
was arrested in 2013, and two years later a Manhattan federal jury found him guilty on seven counts, including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic drugs via the internet, and perpetuating a criminal enterprise.
First-time criminal Ulbricht was convicted not of selling illegal drugs and other substances himself, but of creating and operating a site made by others. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ulbricht, who used the internet nickname “Dread Pirate Roberts”, was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in federal prison.
Short in Short
- The “Dread Pirate Roberts” of the internet Ross Ulbricht founded the Darknet marketplace Silk Road in 2011, and in 2013 the US government operated until its closure.
- The site was a marketplace for criminal activity, including the sale of drugs and weapons. Users of the site paid using cryptocurrency.
- In 2013, Ulbricht was arrested and charged with seven counts, including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic drugs via the internet, and perpetuating a criminal enterprise.
- Ulbricht was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison to serve concurrently with no chance of parole.
- He remains in prison today as his appeal was dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Early Life and Education
Ulbricht grew up near Austin, Texas, studied physics at the University of Texas at Dallas and later earned a master’s in materials science. He attended Pennsylvania State University to continue his program.
During this time Ulbricht developed a keen interest in liberal views of economic theory . He became a supporter of the political philosopher Ludwig von Mises and aligned his views with leading libertarian politicians.
Early career
After graduating from Penn State in 2009, Ulbricht returned to Austin to become an entrepreneur. His first attempts were unsuccessful and he switched between several jobs. He tried his hand at day trading and developing video games, as well as starting a company to sell books online.
It was during this time that Ulbricht first developed the idea of creating an online marketplace using Tor encryption and Bitcoin, which was still in its infancy at the time.
Ulbricht believed that by adopting encryption and cryptocurrency, he could provide anonymity and security to his market participants, allowing them to avoid government scrutiny.
Tor transmits user information through a vast network of cryptographic procedures, effectively hiding the identity and location of participants in the network, while bitcoin offers a decentralized and anonymous transaction platform. This early idea would eventually evolve into the Silk Road market.
Silk Road
Ulbricht paid homage to the 1987 hit movie The Princess Bride in 2011 He founded Silk Road in , and called himself “Dread Pirate Roberts” online. He envisioned Silk Road as “a way to eradicate the use of coercion and aggression among humanity,” according to his LinkedIn page.
He also said he has “created an economic simulation to give people a first-hand experience of what it would be like to live in a world without the use of systemic force.”
Silk Road became popular in a very short time. In mid-2011, when many media outlets heard from the market, significant interest and traffic to the site increased exponentially. Of course, as the site became more well-known, authorities made moves to identify Silk Road users and shut down the site.
However, Silk Road remained a popular, but veiled marketplace, where both legal and highly illegal activities took place until 2013. At the time of its shutdown, the site had generated approximately $213.9 million in sales and $13.2 million in commissions, according to prosecutors.
Arrest, Trial and Imprisonment
In early 2013, the Daily Dot reported that an Australian drug dealer was the first to be convicted of crimes directly related to Silk Road. From this point on, the identification of Silk Road users continued to improve and eventually the FBI determined that Ulbricht was the founder and owner of Silk Road. He was arrested in a library in San Francisco on October 2, 2013, and later charged with seven counts.
Ulbricht also faced murder-for-hire charges in a separate case in Baltimore federal court. These charges were ultimately dropped in 2018.
In the process of shutting down Silk Road, the FBI seized 144,336 bitcoins from a shared digital wallet on Ulbricht’s laptop. They were sold in a series of auctions that brought in $48.2 million.
Ulbricht’s trial began in Manhattan in January 2015 and he was found guilty on all seven counts. The trial was a highly publicized and blamed event, and the presiding judge allegedly received death threats from Silk Road supporters, but this was never proven.
Before sentencing, Ulbricht wrote to the judge that his actions were linked to his libertarian ideals and that “Silk Road should be about giving people the freedom to make their own choices.” On May 29, 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison.
Objections
Ulbricht attempted to appeal, and in May 2017 the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected his attempt. Also in 2017, Ulbricht appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that his lawyers’ case involved unresolved constitutional questions about the Fourth Amendment and the digital age.
In June 2018, however, the court refused to hear Ross’ case. On October 10, 2019, Ulbricht filed a lawsuit in the Southern District Court of New York to have his sentence lifted or quashed. This proposal was also rejected.
In late 2020, national media reported that former President Donald Trump was considering commuting Mr. Ulbricht’s sentence, but ultimately did not.
Since Ulbricht’s imprisonment, more than 435,000 people have signed an online petition created by Ross’ mother, Lyn Ulbricht, to commute her double life sentence. His supporters have also created an online fact sheet to provide more details on Ross’ condition.
How Long Was Ross Ulbricht’s Prison Sentenced?
On May 29, 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison for concurrent service without the possibility of parole.
Did Ross Ulbricht Participate in Bitcoin Development?
Darknet sites, and Silk Road in particular, were the first to adopt bitcoin, although Ulbricht was not involved in Bitcoin development in any way.
Does Silk Road Marketplace Still Exist?
The FBI shut down Silk Road shortly after Ross Ulbricht was arrested and seized 144,336 Bitcoins in the process.
Final Words
Ross Ulbricht is famous for creating and operating the Silk Road marketplace and claims his intention to launch the site was altruistic, while a federal jury found him guilty of conspiring to traffic drugs. He was found guilty of seven serious charges and sentenced to spend.
Many supporters of Ulbricht condemn his sentence as unfair, and nearly half a million people signed a petition for pardon in his case.
