Silk Road founder gets life for creating online drug site

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loki

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NEW YORK – A San Francisco man who created the online drug-selling site Silk Road was sentenced Friday to life in prison by a judge who cited six deaths that resulted from drugs bought on his website and five people he tried to have killed.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest told Ross Ulbricht he was a criminal even though he doesn't fit the typical profile — he has two collegiate degrees — and she brushed aside his attempt to characterize the business as a big mistake.

"It was a carefully planned life's work. It was your opus," she said. "You are no better a person than any other drug dealer."

Forrest said the sentence was necessary to show others who might follow in his path that there are "very serious consequences." She also ordered $183 million forfeiture.

Ulbricht, 31, was convicted in February of operating the site for nearly three years from 2011 until his 2013 arrest.

Prosecutors say he collected $18 million in bitcoins through commissions on drug sales on a website with thousands of listings under categories like "Cannabis," ''Psychedelics" and "Stimulants." They said he brokered more than 1 million drug deals worth over $183 million while he operated on the site with the alias Dread Pirate Roberts — a reference to the swashbuckling character in "The Princess Bride."

The judge said Ulbricht's efforts to arrange the murders of five people he deemed as threats to his business was proof that Silk Road had not become the "world without restrictions, of ultimate freedom" that he claimed he sought.

Forrest said she was "blown away in fury" at the "breathtakingly irresponsible" Internet postings of a doctor who advised customers on Silk Road about the effects of various drugs.

Prosecutors cited at least five deaths traced to overdoses from drugs bought on Silk Road, and a parent of two of the victims spoke in court.

Before the sentence was announced, a sniffling and apologetic Ulbricht told Forrest he's a changed man who is not greedy or vain by nature.

"I've essentially ruined my life and broken the hearts of every member of my family and my closest friends," he said. "I'm not a self-centered sociopathic person that was trying to express some inner badness. I do love freedom. It's been devastating to use it."

His hands folded before him, Ulbricht was stoic as the sentence was announced. As he left the courtroom, he carried with him photographs of those who died as a result of drugs purchased on Silk Road.



source; http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/29/silk-road-founder-gets-life-for-creating-online********site/
 
9 comments
and im here and i thought is this
and i said (What really?? that silkroad)
ugh to much internet for today gonna sleep


caravan.jpg
 
They said he brokered more than 1 million drug deals worth over $183 million while he operated on the site....Prosecutors cited at least five deaths traced to overdoses from drugs bought on Silk Road, and a parent of two of the victims spoke in court.


I'm not justifying what he did nor am I belittling the 5 deaths, but I guarantee that there are at least 5 deaths per $183 million in legally prescribed drugs, too. Just saying...
 
^ that's true, both are culpable, and both get very rich. didn't know that many were still into ill eagle dopes.
 
The law catches up, finally :)



and the law catches up with the law


Ross Ulbricht, the convicted mastermind behind Silk Road, the world’s largest online narcotics emporium, won’t be the only person nabbed because of his or her involvement with the site.
Former US Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges will plead guilty to charges connected to the case, including money-laundering and obstruction charges.
Bridges had been part of the Baltimore Silk Road task force — known as SA Force — a group charged with tracking down Ulbricht, who went by the handle “DreadPirateRoberts.”
On the team with Bridges was DEA agent Carl Mark Force IV, who is also facing criminal charges. Force is charged with extorting Ulbricht, as well as wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering, and conflict of interest.
Over the course of the investigation, Bridges diverted to a personal account more than $800,000 in bitcoins acquired during the investigation.
 
This guy didn't deserve life in prison, not when murderers and rapists can get off with 10-20 years. All he did was provide a service where consenting adults could exchange goods willingly, he can't reasonably be held responsible if someone overdoses on a product one of the users of his website sold.

As far as the supposed contract murders are concerned, I've read some things that suggest those were just fabricated to defame him further. If they had evidence, why didn't they charge him with that?

Now don't get me wrong, I do think drug use can be very harmful (of course, so can unhealthy foods, soda, alcohol, cigarettes etc etc) but who are we to say what another adult can put into their own body? The prohibition of and war on drugs has killed many more people and ruined more lives than the drugs themselves, I think we should take an approach like the Netherlands with legalization and focus instead on education and rehabilitation.
 
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