Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon • Hacker News Board

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#901

Post by butlike » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:37 PM UTC

insane_dreamer wrote: post #348

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…

Madoff got 150 years for non-violent charges (and he didn't even try to have anyone killed). Died in prison.

The rule is: do whatever, but don't make the federal government look bad.

AKA file your taxes, essentially.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#902

Post by azinman2 » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:40 PM UTC

diggan wrote: post #852

azinman2 wrote: post #800

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going to comment on the murder part as that’s well discussed here. I would take issue with assuming that it was net positive with ratings. Given the anonymous nature handling bots spamming fake reviews would be even harder to catch here, and you ultimately don’t know who ended up addicted/hooked/DUI’s etc from the easy availability this provided. I’m not sure the total effects could ever be qualified, but it’s no…

> That’s also not to mention guns and all kinds of other dangerous & illegal parts of it. I think it isn't mentioned because Silk Road didn't actually facilitate any selling/buying of weapons or any items "whose purpose was to "harm or defraud."" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)#Produc... > I do not understand why he pardoned this guy when he’s supposedly anti-drug and anti-cartel. He's the candi…

I saw guns on it when I joined years ago.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#903

Post by yieldcrv » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:41 PM UTC

zanek wrote: post #327

steve_avery wrote: post #55

Well, I think that justice has been served. The feds' prosecution of Ulbricht was the epitome of throwing the book at someone to make an example, when the government's case was pretty flawed, in my opinion. 10 years is enough time to pay the debt of running the silk road. I am glad that Ulbricht has been pardoned and I feel like a small iota of justice has been returned to the world with this action.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading the comments on this thread. Multiple teenagers (one in Australia) died from the drugs distributed on Silk Road. Ross was ok with selling grenades, body parts, etc on there. But everyone is saying he served his time ???

The government should have investigated the people that listed and sourced the drugs

this isn't controversial to say, the governments just go for the laziest intermediary lately

but there is the choice of doing actual investigations for time tested crimes. those dealers just went to other darknet markets, which are far far bigger than Silk Road ever was

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#904

Post by azinman2 » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:42 PM UTC

napkin wrote: post #863

azinman2 wrote: post #800

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going to comment on the murder part as that’s well discussed here. I would take issue with assuming that it was net positive with ratings. Given the anonymous nature handling bots spamming fake reviews would be even harder to catch here, and you ultimately don’t know who ended up addicted/hooked/DUI’s etc from the easy availability this provided. I’m not sure the total effects could ever be qualified, but it’s no…

(SWIM’s experience with Silk Road): For LSD there existed a third-party forum, where a group of (supposedly) vendor-neutral, unaffiliated individuals would purchase samples from vendors, send them to private or state-sponsored labs around the world and publish/discuss the results (often with online links to lab results). Yes, of course vendors could have also attempted to infiltrate these forums. But as enough of the…

Built on naive yet admirable ideals? Special community? It was the world’s largest drug market, selling things like fentanyl in large quantities. What admirable ideal is this?!

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#905

Post by yieldcrv » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:43 PM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #321

loeg wrote: post #129

Any non-twitter reporting on this? Edit: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-fou...

Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/ross-ulbrich... > CNN: https://lite.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/silk-road-ross-ulbr... > NPR: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/21/nx-s1-5270051/trump-pardons-d... > MSN: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-pardons-... > Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-fou... > AP: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-…

and Truth Social

honestly guys, its time to download Truth Social so you can see what the President and the right is really saying

by the time it hits your feeds elsewhere, it is often times altered just to inflame you and whatever segment of the algorithm's tree you are already pigeonholed in

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#906

Post by doctorpangloss » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:44 PM UTC

no-dr-onboard wrote: post #885

doctorpangloss wrote: post #872

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are feeling the same thing that some people felt who wanted OJ Simpson exonerated.

How so?

Okay, another comparison would be, everyone who wants Luigi Mangione exonerated also is feeling what some people felt when they wanted OJ Simpson to be exonerated. Do you see now?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#907

Post by butlike » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:48 PM UTC

mrandish wrote: post #378

arp242 wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Biden should have already pardoned Ross because that crazy sentence shouldn't have happened in the first place. Biden did commute the sentence of several other non-violent cases just last week or thereabouts, and Trump has been talking about Ulbricht for quite some time so it's not a complete surprise. I guess the whole "murder for hire" thing excluded him from the "non-violent" category. But how that got tacked on…

Judges are allowed to consider some evidence during sentencing which was not presented at trial. The standard for this evidence is lower than the "beyond a shadow of doubt" standard required for a criminal conviction. This is allowed because during sentencing the judge is considering information related to the history and character of the defendant. The 'hiring an online hitman' (who was an FBI informant) allegation…

On the one hand you say we should retain judges making sentencing adjustments where appropriate, but who judges the appropriateness of the adjustments?

It sounds like if an extenuating circumstance resonates with a judge, then the sentence will get modified. Sentencing shouldn't be based on a single person's "feelings."

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#908

Post by aerostable_slug » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:51 PM UTC

jjallen wrote: post #898

So if you start a website and facilitate thousands of drug deals and get lots of people to ask the president to pardon you, and you’re white, you can get a pardon. But for everyone else you can’t. Even if you’re in prison for possession of drugs for more than ten years. Also if you try to overthrow the government you get pardoned which I would have guessed approaches treason. These are pardonable offenses and conditi…

There's no reason to bring race into this. Trump has pardoned PoC convicted of drug offenses, e.g. Weldon Angelos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weldon_Angelos_case

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#909

Post by hinkley » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 6:56 PM UTC

azinman2 wrote: post #800

_yb2s wrote: post #798

I feel torn about this because it seems there was good evidence for attempted murder- and I cannot understand why they never tried him for that (seemingly larger) crime. However, for the crime he was actually found guilty of, the sentence was unfair and unreasonable. It seems they unethically sentenced him for crimes he was not even ever charged with. I'd also argue he almost certainly saved a huge number of lives wi…

Not going to comment on the murder part as that’s well discussed here. I would take issue with assuming that it was net positive with ratings. Given the anonymous nature handling bots spamming fake reviews would be even harder to catch here, and you ultimately don’t know who ended up addicted/hooked/DUI’s etc from the easy availability this provided. I’m not sure the total effects could ever be qualified, but it’s no…

Something anyone with an addict in their life needs to know:

While substances can efficiently help someone destroy their life, keeping them away from drugs won’t stop them from destroying their lives. There’s something already broken in these people that they need to fix before it’s too late.

There are perfectly legal alternatives that can be just as effective with a little more effort. Putting heroin in your arm is just quicker than downing a fifth of vodka, or chasing dopamine at the dog track.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#910

Post by bmelton » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 7:09 PM UTC

jjallen wrote: post #898

So if you start a website and facilitate thousands of drug deals and get lots of people to ask the president to pardon you, and you’re white, you can get a pardon. But for everyone else you can’t. Even if you’re in prison for possession of drugs for more than ten years. Also if you try to overthrow the government you get pardoned which I would have guessed approaches treason. These are pardonable offenses and conditi…

I felt the same when Biden pardoned the judge who put kids in jail for pay, or the nursing home CEO who took money away from the elderly to buy yachts, but I'd decided that pardons were effectively for sale (tho likely by barter) -- seeing Biden close out his term and Trump open his term with pardons has been kind to those who'd like to compare and contrast, but they both mostly just appear to be paying down debts.