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Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

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Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#261

Post by adrianmonk »

yuppiepuppie wrote: post #8

Wasn’t he in jail for hiring a contract killer? I’m all for the freeing him of his crimes when it comes to his crypto anarchic philosophy. But I find it hard to pardon someone for contract killing essentially. Also I’m not an apologist for the FBIs handling of this case either.

According to Wikipedia[1], he was convicted of charges related to hacking, narcotics, money laundering, and more.

But during the trial, evidence was presented that he made murder-for-hire payments, the court found that he did by a preponderance of evidence, and the court took this into account when sentencing him.

So, he wasn't convicted of it, but it is part of the reason he was sent to jail for a very long time.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#262

Post by paulsutter »

wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

Wait, you were reading about his arrest while he was being arrested? That article was written after his conviction?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#263

Post by trhway »

nadermx wrote: post #174
rappatic wrote: post #164

I think his original sentence was absolutely deserved—even though the charge of hiring a contract killer to assassinate his business competition may have been dropped, I think it's clear he did many things in the same vein. Even if you support his original pursuit of a free and open online marketplace, I think most people would agree he took it a bridge too far in the end. That said, I do think he absolutely deserved…

What has always sat odd with me regarding this, is we don't truly know the extent of the fbi's corruption in this. They stole, so it's not hard to imagine they planted evidence too.

>we don't truly know the extent of the fbi's corruption in this

the corruption what we do know about already tainted the case to the point that it should have been thrown out.

I don't care about Ulbricht, and whether he is guilty of all or some of the charges or innocent. What bothers me in this case is that the government can get away and in particular can get its way in court even with such severe criminal behavior by the government.

Rare case when i agree with Trump:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7e0jve875o

"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," Trump said in his post online on Tuesday evening."

Trump even personally called Ulbricht mother. I start to wonder whether i have been all that time in blind denial about Trump.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#264

Post by syspec »

wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

Sorry, it went over my head a bit, you read about his arrest while he was being arrested?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#265

Post by reaperman »

eagleinparadise wrote: post #176
FergusArgyll wrote: post #91

This thread is a great lesson in "Politics is a mind virus" I recommend you read the HN thread when Ulbricht was sentenced [0] first, then come here and read all the "Honest, genuine question, why?"s Then start practicing not letting politics influence your thought process https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985

[flagged]

For anyone who followed the Silk Road / Ross Ulbrict saga, this is all obvious and surface-level.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#266

Post by rappatic »

bko wrote: post #230
rappatic wrote: post #164

I think his original sentence was absolutely deserved—even though the charge of hiring a contract killer to assassinate his business competition may have been dropped, I think it's clear he did many things in the same vein. Even if you support his original pursuit of a free and open online marketplace, I think most people would agree he took it a bridge too far in the end. That said, I do think he absolutely deserved…

Ross Ulbricht was not sentenced for murder-for-hire charges. Those allegations were used to deny him bail and influenced public perception, they were not part of his formal conviction or sentencing. He was convicted on non-violent charges related to operating the Silk Road website, including drug distribution, computer hacking, and money laundering. Does this change your opinion of sentencing being well-deserved?

Did you read my comment? I said:

> even though the charge of hiring a contract killer to assassinate his business competition may have been dropped

Just because the charge was dropped doesn't mean he's innocent of it. In fact, reading the chat logs makes his guilt pretty clear. Of course, because the whole operation was a scam, there's little he could have been convicted of. Yet just because the murder was never carried out doesn't mean he didn't intend to have someone assassinated. In my book, paying someone money to kill another person is definitely grounds for imprisonment.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#267

Post by [deleted] »

paulsutter wrote: post #262
wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

Wait, you were reading about his arrest while he was being arrested? That article was written after his conviction?

[deleted]

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#268

Post by duxup »

bko wrote: post #230
rappatic wrote: post #164

I think his original sentence was absolutely deserved—even though the charge of hiring a contract killer to assassinate his business competition may have been dropped, I think it's clear he did many things in the same vein. Even if you support his original pursuit of a free and open online marketplace, I think most people would agree he took it a bridge too far in the end. That said, I do think he absolutely deserved…

Ross Ulbricht was not sentenced for murder-for-hire charges. Those allegations were used to deny him bail and influenced public perception, they were not part of his formal conviction or sentencing. He was convicted on non-violent charges related to operating the Silk Road website, including drug distribution, computer hacking, and money laundering. Does this change your opinion of sentencing being well-deserved?

The other user directly addressed that in his comment.
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