Trump released Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht after 11 years in prison

Those allegations of hit-and-runs actually dissuaded the first Trump administration from pardoning Ulbricht. The White House in 2020 considered releasing Ulbricht, but ultimately rejected the idea because of the alleged role of violence in the case, according to a former government official involved in the process who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity.

However, the Trump administration has since changed its stance on Ulbricht’s case — in part, perhaps, because of its embrace of the libertarian cryptocurrency community for which Ulbricht has become a martyr and cause célèbre. At the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C., last May, then-presidential candidate Trump promised to commute Ulbricht’s sentence “on day one” if re-elected. (In the end, the first day passed without mercy for Ulbricht, even when Trump pardoned more than a thousand participants in the riot on January 6, 2021. in the US Capitol, although Trump ally Elon Musk promised in post to X on Monday night that “Ross will also be released.”)

Exactly what role Ulbricht will play in the free world is far from clear. Even in his statement to the judge at his 2015 hearing, Ulbricht never fully acknowledged the harm caused by Silk Road’s drug sales. And according to Jared Der-Yegiayan, a former Homeland Security Investigations agent who infiltrated Silk Road during the investigation, Ulbricht still shows little remorse for his actions in his public postings to X.

“The idea of ​​him being released doesn’t bother me in the least,” said Der-Yegiayan, who now works as head of strategic intelligence at cryptocurrency tracking firm Chainalysis. “I am really worried if he has an idea now that he has done nothing wrong; it does not recognize the facts of the case.”

Among some criminal justice reform advocates, however, Ulbricht has become an example of over-sentencing, especially given that he was technically charged with non-violent crimes. “Ross has served more than enough time. He is a model prisoner. He is a first-time, non-violent offender. He poses zero risk to the safety of the community,” Alice Johnson, CEO of the justice reform foundation Taking Action for Good, told WIRED in November. Johnson herself spent two decades in prison for attempted possession with intent to distribute before Trump commuted her life sentence in 2018. and pardon her in 2020. “I believe Ross’s case will pave the way for many others who have unfairly received these draconian sentences to come home.”

On Tuesday night, Ulbricht’s supporters celebrated his release and expressed their gratitude to Trump for his clemency. “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” read a tweet from @Free_Ross, an X account dedicated to the decade-long effort on Ulbricht’s behalf. “President Trump is a man of his word and he just saved Ross’s life. ROSS IS A FREE MAN!!!!”

Additional accountability from Joel Khalili