Kennedy, Oliver, and Trump vow to pardon Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht. Biden ignores him.
Presidential candidates clash over Ross Ulbricht's fate
The Silk Road was an online black market, launched in 2011 by Ross Ulbricht under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts." Silk Road offered users the ability to buy and sell goods and services anonymously using Bitcoin. The platform quickly gained notoriety for its ability for users to buy drugs, counterfeit documents, and other items and services. Some saw Silk Road as a step toward a truly free market while preserving privacy, all the while, the government condemned it for facilitating “illegal” activities and undermining law enforcement efforts.
And, as the government always does, when they see a truly private free market in action, without them getting their cut, the FBI went on a manhunt for this Dead Pirate Roberts character and Ulbricht was ultimately arrested in 2013 in San Francisco, charging him with money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics without a license to do so. Ulbricht was ultimately sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Since Ulbricht’s sentences, there has been a growing movement to #FREEROSS over the Internet.
Now, in the 2024 election season underway, campaign promises to pardon Ross Ulbricht are flying around with all but Joe Biden promising to free ross from federal prison.
Yesterday, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. stated on X.com, “Ross Ulbricht has been in prison far too long. Two life sentences for hosting an e-commerce platform. Yes, illegal activity took place there, but come on. When I’m President I will pardon him. In the meantime, I’m going to sign the petition asking for his release, and I encourage you to do the same. https://freeross.org.”
At the Libertarian Party’s national convention in May, former President Donald J. Trump offered an olive branch to Libertarians stating, “And if you vote for me, on Day One, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht.” It was one of only a handful of cheering he got from those in attendance, while the rest of his speech was met with strong booing.
Libertarian Party presidential nominee, Chase Oliver has stated on X.com, that not only would he pardon Ross Ulbricht but also Hunter Biden.
Now, while President Joe Biden can pardon Ulbricht today, he has ignored the issue. In 2022, Biden granted clemency to 78 federal prisoners, Ross Ulbricht was not one of those on the list.