Pakinomist – US President Donald Trump has granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an underground online marketplace known for illegal trading. Ulbricht, 40, was serving a life sentence for facilitating over $200 million in illegal transactions using bitcoin.
Ulbricht’s arrest in 2013 and subsequent sentencing in 2015 marked a significant US prosecution that came just a few years after the rise of popular cryptocurrency. The Silk Road platform was a hotspot for drug traffickers and others engaged in illegal activities.
The presidential pardon, announced Tuesday, fulfills a campaign promise made by the Republican president. In a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump criticized those involved in Ulbricht’s sentencing. He referred to them as “scum” and linked them to what he described as “the modern weaponization of the government” against him.
This pardon clears Ulbricht of his charges, making it both full and unconditional, according to President Trump’s statement.
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