{"id":2393460,"date":"2025-01-21T19:57:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T00:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pardons-ross-ulbricht-creator-of-silk-road-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T19:58:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T00:58:30","slug":"trump-pardons-ross-ulbricht-creator-of-silk-road-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pardons-ross-ulbricht-creator-of-silk-road-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, creator of Silk Road &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-pardons-ross-ulbricht-creator-of-silk-road-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2393460&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald trump \u200bhas granted an unconditional pardon to Ross\u2062 Ulbricht, the\u2063 founder of the Silk Road darknet market.This decision,made on the second day\u2063 of Trump&#8217;s\u2062 second administration,fulfills a\u200c campaign promise \u2064and has been celebrated by \u2063cryptocurrency enthusiasts and libertarians who \u2063have\u200d long advocated for\u2062 Ulbricht&#8217;s release. The pardon is meaningful\u2062 for those who view Ulbricht\u2019s \u2063conviction as an injustice, and it may have broader implications for discussions \u2063surrounding cryptocurrency and personal freedoms.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, creator of Silk Road<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1922643\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a> has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of darknet market <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/silk-road\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Silk Road<\/a>, fulfilling a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/3020936\/trump-embraces-cryptocurrency-in-presidential-bid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">campaign promise<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Trump issued the order on Tuesday, the second day of his second administration. The &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wake-up-with-the-washington-examiner-biden-breaks-his-word-and-senators-get-fired-up-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Wake up with the Washington Examiner: Biden breaks his word, and senators get fired up - Washington Examiner\">unconditional pardon&#038;rdquo<\/a>; is a big deal for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cryptocurrency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">cryptocurrency<\/a> enthusiasts and libertarians, who have been pushing for Ulbricht&rsquo;s sentence to be absolved for years.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,&rdquo; Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/113869048176700070\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">wrote<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me,&rdquo; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-vice-president-mike-pence-joins-the-heritage-foundation\/\" title=\"Former Vice President Mike Pence Joins The Heritage Foundation\">president added<\/a>. &ldquo;He was given two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/82-advocacy-groups-urge-biden-to-end-federal-executions\/\" title=\"82 Advocacy Groups Urge Biden to End Federal Executions\">life sentences<\/a>, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ulbricht, 40, was sentenced in 2015 for running the darknet platform Silk Road, which was used as an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">online black market<\/a> for illegal drugs and other products purchased and sold using cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you vote for me, on day one, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht,&rdquo; Trump told attendees of the Libertarian Party&rsquo;s convention back in May.<\/p>\n<p>Angela McArdle, Libertarian National Committee chairwoman, called Trump&rsquo;s action on Tuesday an &ldquo;incredible moment in Libertarian history.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Ross Ulbricht has been a libertarian political prisoner for more than a decade. I&rsquo;m proud to say that saving his life has been one of our top priorities and that has finally paid off,&rdquo; McArdle added. &ldquo;Ross, congratulations to you and your family. God bless you and keep you safe in your new found freedom. On behalf of the Libertarian Party, we are gifting you with an honorary lifetime membership. Thank you to Pres. Trump for following through on your promise.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ulbricht set up Silk Road under the pseudonym &ldquo;Dread Pirate Roberts&rdquo; and the platform was inspired by libertarian economic theory.<\/p>\n<p>The Silk Road, while controversial, was one of the first large-scale use cases for bitcoin, which was a nascent form of currency at the time but has since exploded in popularity and worth over $100,000 today. On the day of his arrest, bitcoin was worth just around $130.<\/p>\n<p>Ulbricht was convicted of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, and conspiracy to commit computer hacking, among other charges.<\/p>\n<p>He was sentenced to two life imprisonment sentences without the possibility of parole plus 40 additional years in prison. He was also ordered to pay some $183 million in restitution.<\/p>\n<p>Ulbricht&rsquo;s supporters and criminal justice advocates have long deemed the sentence excessively harsh, especially given that he wasn&rsquo;t charged with a violent crime.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In terms of clemency, a presidential pardon is different than a presidential commutation. Pardons wipe out the legal consequences of a conviction, while a commutation simply eliminates the punishment.<\/p>\n<p>A commutation of Ulbricht&rsquo;s sentence was expected, but Trump decided to go a step further and pardon him, erasing his felony conviction.<\/p>\n<p><em>Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1922643\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1922643\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump grants pardon to Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road founder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3360,"featured_media":2393461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/trump-commute-ross-ulbricht.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[12559,48964,48965,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2393460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-pardons","tag-ross-ulbricht","tag-silk-road","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/trump-commute-ross-ulbricht.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3360"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2393460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2393464,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393460\/revisions\/2393464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2393461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2393460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2393460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2393460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}