President Trump just pledged to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht.
Ulbricht founded ‘Silk Road’, a dark web marketplace let users buy and sell anonymously using Bitcoin.
The dark web site was mostly used for buying and selling illegal drugs.
Ulbricht has already served 11 years of his life sentence.
Trump made the promise during his speech at the Libertarian National Convention.
Watch for yourself here:
BREAKING: Donald Trump announces he would commute the sentence of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht on day one during his speech at the Libertarian National Convention. pic.twitter.com/wusFicqqUz
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 26, 2024
Trump at the Libertarians convention in DC "If you vote for me, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht.”
Ross was the founder of Silk Road, an online black market place that conducted transactions only in Bitcoin.
— Mayor (@Mayoralpodcast) May 26, 2024
President Trump’s pledge earned him a standing ovation from libertarians, who have long wanted to see Ulbricht released:
WATCH: Trump gets a standing ovation from the Libertarian National Convention after promising to commute the sentence of Silk Road founder; Ross Ulbricht pic.twitter.com/FlNGCJ2YH8
— Overton (@OvertonLive) May 26, 2024
Coin Desk reported:
Donald J. Trump has pledged to commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s life sentence to time served if he’s re-elected president.
“If you vote for me, on Day 1, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served,” Trump said during his Saturday night remarks at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. “He’s already served 11 years, we’re gonna get him home.”
In his evening address, Trump’s pledge to free Ulbricht was met with raucous cheers from the assembled audience, many of whom were holding up signs reading “Free Ross.”
In 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years – effectively, life in prison without the possibility of parole – for creating and operating Silk Road. The now-defunct darknet marketplace was used to anonymously buy and sell goods, but was largely used for drugs. Silk Road operated from 2011 to 2013 and is widely considered the first real-world use case for Bitcoin.
Ulbricht has become something of a martyr for many in the crypto community, as well as to many Libertarians, who see Ulbricht’s draconian sentence as a governmental overstep and a violation of his constitutional rights. In 2018, the Libertarian Party called on then-President Trump to pardon Ulbricht.
NBC News also said:
Former President Donald Trump plans to announce at the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday that he intends to commute “Silk Road” website operator Ross Ulbricht’s life in prison sentence, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Ulbricht was sentenced to life in federal prison in 2015 for creating and operating a hidden website known as the “Silk Road” that people used to buy and sell drugs, among other illegal goods and services.
Many libertarians have called for Ulbricht’s release. At the convention on Saturday, the crowd was filled with “free Ross” signs and took up chants in support of Ulbricht.
What do you think?
Would commuted Ross Ulbricht’s sentence be the right move?
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