These murder-for-hire allegations actually deterred the first Trump administration from granting Ulbricht clemency: the White House in 2020 considered releasing Ulbricht but ultimately rejected the idea due to the alleged role of violence in the affair, according to an elder. government official involved in the process who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity.
Since then, however, the Trump administration has changed its position on Ulbricht’s case, perhaps in part due to its embrace of the libertarian cryptocurrency community, for whom Ulbricht has become a martyr and cause celebre. At the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. last May, Trump, then a presidential candidate, promised to commute Ulbricht’s sentence “on day one” if he was re-elected. (In the end, the first day passed without clemency for Ulbricht, even though Trump pardoned more than a thousand participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, although Trump’s ally, Elon Musk, promised in a post on Monday evening that “Ross will also be released. )
The exact role Ulbricht will play in the free world is far from clear. Even in his statement to the judge at his 2015 sentencing hearing, Ulbricht never fully acknowledged the harm caused by Silk Road drug sales and still shows little remorse for his actions in his public messages to X, Homeland alum Jared Der-Yeghiayan. The security investigations agent who infiltrated the Silk Road as part of the case against Ulbricht told WIRED in November
“The idea of his release doesn’t bother me at all,” says Der-Yeghiayan, who now works as head of strategic intelligence at cryptocurrency tracking company Chainalysis. “It bothers me that if there is now an impression that he did nothing wrong, it does not recognize the facts of the case.”
However, among some criminal justice reform advocates, Ulbricht became an example of excessive sentencing, especially since he was technically charged with nonviolent crimes. “Ross has served more than enough time. He was a model prisoner. He is a first time non-violent offender. It poses no safety risk to the community,” Alice Johnson, CEO of the justice reform foundation Taking Action for Good, told WIRED in November. Johnson herself spent two decades in prison for drug trafficking before her life sentence was commuted by Trump in 2018. “I believe Ross’s case will pave the way for many others who have unfairly received these draconian penalties to return home. »
On Tuesday evening, Ulbricht’s supporters celebrated his freedom and expressed gratitude to Trump for his clemency. “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” read a tweet from @Free_Ross, an X account dedicated to Ulbricht’s more than decade-long efforts. “President Trump is a man of his word and he just saved Ross’s life. ROSS IS A FREE MAN!!!!”
Additional reporting by Joel Khalili
