Silk Road mastermind gets life in prison...
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The convicted mastermind behind Silk Road, a Deep Web marketplace that at one time was bustling with anonymous narcotics transactions, was sentenced to life in prison in a U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan on Friday.
Ross Ulbricht, 31, received his life sentence after a giving a final, tearful plea for leniency. In February, he was found guilty on seven counts, including drug trafficking, engaging in a criminal enterprise and money laundering.
Silk Road was not the first anonymous Internet black market, but its incorporation of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin helped the business model to flourish like no other. When the authorities shut down Silk Road in 2013, it had hosted more than 1.5 million purchases over the course of nearly three years.
Silk Road’s success helped lift the veil on the mysterious Deep Web, but also led to the unregulated bazaar’s demise. Its rapid growth captured worldwide attention. This popularity could have led the prosecution to request that the judge make an example of Ulbricht.
Ahead of his sentencing, prosecutors sent Judge Katherine Forrest a 16-page letter asking that he be given “a lengthy sentence, one substantially above the mandatory minimum” of 20 years, “to send a clear message.”
“Ulbricht’s conviction is the first of its kind, and his sentencing is being closely watched,” the letter reads. “The Court thus has an opportunity to send a clear message to anyone tempted to follow his example that the operation of these illegal enterprises comes with severe consequences.”
Ulbricht also sent a letter to the judge, containing a seemingly heartfelt plea.
“I created Silk Road because…I believed at the time that people should have the right to buy and sell whatever they wanted as long as they weren’t hurting anyone else,” he wrote. “I’ve learned from Silk Road that when you give people freedom, you don’t know what they’ll do with it.… Silk Road turned out to be a very naive and costly idea that I deeply regret.”
“I’ve had my youth, and I know you must take away my middle years, but please leave me my old age,” he concludes. “Please leave a small light at the end of the tunnel, an excuse to stay healthy, an excuse to dream of better days ahead, and a chance to redeem myself in the free world before I meet my maker.”
Ulbricht still awaits trial in Maryland, where he faces murder-for-hire charges.
http://www.newsweek.com/silk-road-mastermind-gets-life-prison-sentence-337473
Ross Ulbricht, 31, received his life sentence after a giving a final, tearful plea for leniency. In February, he was found guilty on seven counts, including drug trafficking, engaging in a criminal enterprise and money laundering.
Silk Road was not the first anonymous Internet black market, but its incorporation of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin helped the business model to flourish like no other. When the authorities shut down Silk Road in 2013, it had hosted more than 1.5 million purchases over the course of nearly three years.
Silk Road’s success helped lift the veil on the mysterious Deep Web, but also led to the unregulated bazaar’s demise. Its rapid growth captured worldwide attention. This popularity could have led the prosecution to request that the judge make an example of Ulbricht.
Ahead of his sentencing, prosecutors sent Judge Katherine Forrest a 16-page letter asking that he be given “a lengthy sentence, one substantially above the mandatory minimum” of 20 years, “to send a clear message.”
“Ulbricht’s conviction is the first of its kind, and his sentencing is being closely watched,” the letter reads. “The Court thus has an opportunity to send a clear message to anyone tempted to follow his example that the operation of these illegal enterprises comes with severe consequences.”
Ulbricht also sent a letter to the judge, containing a seemingly heartfelt plea.
“I created Silk Road because…I believed at the time that people should have the right to buy and sell whatever they wanted as long as they weren’t hurting anyone else,” he wrote. “I’ve learned from Silk Road that when you give people freedom, you don’t know what they’ll do with it.… Silk Road turned out to be a very naive and costly idea that I deeply regret.”
“I’ve had my youth, and I know you must take away my middle years, but please leave me my old age,” he concludes. “Please leave a small light at the end of the tunnel, an excuse to stay healthy, an excuse to dream of better days ahead, and a chance to redeem myself in the free world before I meet my maker.”
Ulbricht still awaits trial in Maryland, where he faces murder-for-hire charges.
http://www.newsweek.com/silk-road-mastermind-gets-life-prison-sentence-337473
Comments
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Tough break
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He got what he deserved.
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He also tried to have a few people killed, but they set him up and had him thinking he was successful.
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Suicide pendin'
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“I created Silk Road because…I believed at the time that people should have the right to buy and sell whatever they wanted as long as they weren’t hurting anyone else,” he wrote. “I’ve learned from Silk Road that when you give people freedom, you don’t know what they’ll do with it.… Silk Road turned out to be a very naive and costly idea that I deeply regret.”
“I’ve had my youth, and I know you must take away my middle years, but please leave me my old age,” he concludes. “Please leave a small light at the end of the tunnel, an excuse to stay healthy, an excuse to dream of better days ahead, and a chance to redeem myself in the free world before I meet my maker.”
Suffer now and enjoy later ....or enjoy now and suffer later. That's the how the game go -
They gave my ? Ulbricht 7-5. Then gave my ? Penthouse another 30
? it, got me thinking like I'm 7-5
Damn, ? ain't even seen 30
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I think drugs should be less regulated. I don't know about all the other ? he's accused of tho.
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I think drugs should be less regulated. I don't know about all the other ? he's accused of tho.
Human trafficking, child pornography, selling firearms and explosives.
He never getting out -
How do I get on the deep web
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All he did was design a website LIFE.
? I would been crying like a ? too. Then I would went into my dead presidents speech "Life?, all the ? I did for this country!" -
stackmaster 313 wrote: »All he did was design a website LIFE.
? I would been crying like a ? too. Then I would went into my dead presidents speech "Life?, all the ? I did for this country!"
That's not all he did. If he just set it and forgot it, it probably wouldn't be big deal, but he administered it and maneuvered it to focus on illicit activities including his own attempt at murder for hire. -
Child porn... give life to that ?
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So did he actually do all those things? Or are they pinning all the ? the users did on the sight on him?
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A$AP_A$TON wrote: »So did he actually do all those things? Or are they pinning all the ? the users did on the sight on him?
Nah, he only tried to hire a hit man to take someone out that he had a bad deal with on the site or something, was probably selling drugs too.
Other than that, he is being punished for the things the users on his site did. -
Lol u couldn't sell child porn on the silk road. It was for drugs and weapons. He got the time because of the undercover hit men who he hired two murder two people. They also connected some overdoses with the Silk Road. There's still a bunch of black market sites on the deep web. The owners of those sites are smart enough to not hire undercover hitmen. It's hard to trace activity on the deep web. It was a strong possibility that he would've never even got caught but he wanted to get even with a business partner he felt wronged him. The kicker is he didn't even create the silk road he just took it over.
