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President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated into his second presidential term on Monday, has said that he has issued an "unconditional pardon" of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road website US federal authorities shut down back in 2013.
"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross," Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, adding: "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"
Trump previously promised he would free Ulbricht from his life sentence in prison back in May when Trump was on the campaign trail. "If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, to a sentence of time served," Trump said at the time. "He’s already served 11 years. We’re going to get him home."
After Trump made that promise, an X account for Ulbricht run by his wife wrote: "Thank you, thank you. After 11 years in prison, it is hard to express how I feel at this moment. It is thanks to your undying support that I may get a second chance." Ulbricht's account hasn't yet posted about the news of the pardon at time of writing.
Trump made a number of promises to Libertarians during his campaign, and now appears to have fulfilled at least one so far. The Silk Road was a black market website that could only be accessed via using the not-always-perfectly-private Tor browser. Once on the Silk Road, users could use Bitcoin to buy drugs, guns, or other illicit goods.
BitInstant's CEO was arrested in 2014 for providing Bitcoin to the Silk Road and sentenced to two years in prison.
Ulbricht, on the other hand, got a much longer sentence. In 2015, Federal District Court Judge Katherine Forrest sentenced Ulbricht to life in prison for being the "kingpin of a worldwide digital drug-trafficking enterprise."
Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said at the time: "Make no mistake: Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people's addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people."
Trump more broadly has been a fan of crypto for years, especially Bitcoin, and has promised to usher in an era of pro-crypto regulation.