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Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

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Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#681

Post by cbsmith »

hypeatei wrote: post #18
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.

No, that charge was dropped. IIRC, it was on shaky ground and they were just trying to throw the book at him.

It had a lot to do with the fact that they already had him for more than long enough on other charges, such that it would have been a waste of time.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#682

Post by cbsmith »

Spooky23 wrote: post #313
bb88 wrote: post #68

Genuine question: Of all the people to pardon, why him?

They seem to be pandering to the more libertarian tech community. This guy appeals to that and to the more radical maga types who want a revolution. I’m sure we’ll see more. The Biden DOJs bungling of the insurrection, turning a jail into a martyrs club, slow rolling prosecutions, etc is ultimately worse than the insurrection for democracy.

> The Biden DOJs bungling of the insurrection, turning a jail into a martyrs club, slow rolling prosecutions, etc is ultimately worse than the insurrection for democracy.

I'd argue promoting that narrative was ultimately worse than the insurrection for democracy.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#683

Post by [deleted] »

vasco wrote: post #651
mrandish wrote: post #181

This is wonderful. I've never argued that Ross shouldn't have served time but it's always been clear his prosecution and sentencing were excessive and unjust. The prosecutors asked for a 20 year sentence, which seemed disproportionate given the sentencing guidelines for a first-time offender and the non-violent charges he was convicted of. But the judge sentenced Ross to TWO life sentences plus 40 years - without the…

The numbers of pardons granted per president is interesting: https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-statistics

[deleted]

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#684

Post by sschueller »

CSSer wrote: post #512
mrandish wrote: post #181

This is wonderful. I've never argued that Ross shouldn't have served time but it's always been clear his prosecution and sentencing were excessive and unjust. The prosecutors asked for a 20 year sentence, which seemed disproportionate given the sentencing guidelines for a first-time offender and the non-violent charges he was convicted of. But the judge sentenced Ross to TWO life sentences plus 40 years - without the…

> non-violent charges Although the murder-for-hire charges were dropped, transcripts published by Wired in 2015[0] show Ross Ulbricht openly discussing contract killings: he haggles over price, suggests interrogation, and even provides personal details about a target’s family (“Wife + 3 kids”). These charges were dismissed partly because he had already been sentenced to life in New York, making further prosecution mo…

The murder for hire was done with the admin account which was called "Dread Pirate Roberts" from the novel "The Princess Bride". The thing about the name is that is passed on over and over. The admin has claimed multiple times that he is not the original nor first administrator (Ross) of the silk road.

In addition you have the guy that was supposed to be murdered also claiming that it could not have been Ross.

The murder for hire case was very weak and then in addition you had the two federal agents working the murder for hire case charged for stealing bitcoins.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#685

Post by mcv »

silver_silver wrote: post #503
offsign wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"he took it a bridge too far" is a massive trivialization. The guy operated a marketplace for illegal goods in order to enrich himself. The illegality wasn't just incidental, it was literally his business model -- by flouting the law, he enjoyed massive market benefit (minimal competition, lack of regulation, high margins etc) by exploiting the arbitrage that the rest of us follow the rules. Said a different way, he…

His sentence was excessive and cruel to make an example out of him. There’s a serial child rapist in the same prison serving less time.

Yes, but so are a lot of sentences in the US. I've heard of people being put away for decades for mere drug possession.

That said, rapists surprisingly often get just a slap on the wrist, or not even that. The US absolutely needs some balance and consistency in its sentencing, but pardoning this one guy sends a really weird message in that regard. At the very least, just commute the sentence so at least the conviction still stands.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#686

Post by lvl155 »

rnernento wrote: post #660

In 2021, Ulbricht's prosecutors and defense agreed that Ulbricht would relinquish any ownership of a newly discovered fund of 50,676 Bitcoin (worth nearly $5.35 billion in 2025) seized from a hacker in November 2021.[78] The Bitcoin had been stolen from Silk Road in 2013 and Ulbricht had been unsuccessful in getting them back. The U.S. government traced and seized the stolen Bitcoin. Ulbricht and the government agree…

Bingo. US always has been about commerce and money. It wouldn’t shock me if Ross has at least a few million hidden in some “lost wallet” printed out in a vault some where. He was smart enough to know he would get caught one day.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#687

Post by varsketiz »

gadders wrote: post #573
lbriner wrote: post #537

Someone might have already pointed it out but for me, the sentence of RA is not the main issue, the issue is allowing a single person to stamp through an entire legal system and undermine all of the time and money that is invested in it, even if that person is a president. I suspect that the idea originally was to give some safety valve but if it is used more than a few times by a President, it makes a mockery of it…

Did you say this about Biden pardoning his whole family for their crimes, or just the ones Trump issued?

Not GP.

I think Bidens family pardons are problematic as well. I can understand why he did it.

I dont understand the argument for pardoning Ross.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#688

Post by HlessClaudesman »

I_am_tiberius wrote: post #679

I know he wasn't convicted of hiring a hitman, and I know the attempt didn't succeed, but he still tried to kill other people. Moreover, during a Bitcoin conference, he gave a live talk from prison via phone and still lied, claiming they planted the log on his laptop. A full pardon is ridiculous. It's unfair to so many people, including his partners like Variety Jones, also known as Thomas Clark. On the other hand, I…

Actual murderers get out in the time that Ross served.

The concept of justice must include an element of proportionality, I would argue that Ross's sentence, for a first time non-violent criminal, was over the top. Without proportionality justice becomes arbitrary, based more on luck and your connections to power.

We punish those we can punish: the little guy. Whilst those running governments, corporations and networks that facilitate repression, hatred and genocide go scot free.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#689

Post by johnwheeler »

I_am_tiberius wrote: post #679

I know he wasn't convicted of hiring a hitman, and I know the attempt didn't succeed, but he still tried to kill other people. Moreover, during a Bitcoin conference, he gave a live talk from prison via phone and still lied, claiming they planted the log on his laptop. A full pardon is ridiculous. It's unfair to so many people, including his partners like Variety Jones, also known as Thomas Clark. On the other hand, I…

I don’t think he should have been sent to ADX Florence, but gen pop in San Quentin seems reasonable. Give him 10 more years in Jail me says!

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#690

Post by southernplaces7 »

dimator wrote: post #396
southernplaces7 wrote: post #380

For all his many defects and cloudy motives for doing it, Trump deserves applause for this. It's with actions such as this that he also shows why he's a genuine maverick of a president, with who it's genuinely possible to expect deeply unexpected actions (for better or worse). For all his talk of being progressive and cultivation of a youthful maverick image of his own, you would have never seen such a move from Obam…

the fact that he will never pardon Snowden tells you all you need to know: this pardon was pandering and suits his own purposes. there are no higher principles here besides quid pro quo.

Trump is literally into the second day of his presidency, nobody can know whether he might or might not pardon even Snowden for some reason of his own. I had zero expectation of a pardon for Ulbricht yet here it is and it's more impressive than Obama's pandering (but to me still applause-worthy) pardon of Manning, though none came for Assange.
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