Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has been sentenced to life in prison

Ross Ulbricht, founder and mastermind of the Silk Road, has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of narcotics conspiracy and other charges earlier this year. Those charges came with a 20-year minimum sentence but no possibility of the death penalty, making life in prison the harshest possible sentence. That's exactly the punishment that Judge Katherine Forrest decided upon, though she admitted it was a "very, very difficult" call to make. Her ruling leaves Ulbricht without any hope of parole. Barring a successful appeal, Ulbricht, 31, will die behind bars. Judge Forrest described Silk Road as "an assault on the public health of our communities."

According to Motherboard, the judge launched into an unforgiving teardown of Ulbricht's character as she revealed he'd be locked away for life. "You are no better a person than any other drug dealer. Your education doesn't make you different, and makes this more inexplicable," Judge Forrest said. Ulbricht's request to serve his time in a prison with more relaxed security was also denied during the hearing. Ulbricht has said he plans to challenge the guilty conviction.

""You are no better a person than any other drug dealer.""

The charges stem from Ulbricht's management of the Silk Road, which used Tor Hidden Services and Bitcoin payments to create an ostensibly anonymous marketplace for drugs and other goods. Shut down in October of 2013, the Silk Road was the largest marketplace of its kind, and subsequent attempts at similar online marketplaces have been stymied by law enforcement actions and exit scams. The prosecution estimates that the Silk Road handled as much as $200 million in drug transactions, a figure that played prominently into today's sentencing decision.

The defense also made an extensive appeal for leniency, citing Ulbricht's ability to contribute to society in spite of his crimes. Ulbricht's team submitted nearly a hundred letters from friends, family, and other acquaintances, testifying to Ulbricht's good character. "I’ve had my youth, and I know you must take away my middle years," Ulbricht wrote in a pre-sentencing statement, "but please leave me my old age." Judge Forrest had a harsh reaction to Ulbricht's plea, describing it as a "display of arrogance that the court takes into consideration."

Am i the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? some rapists and murderers get off with lesser sentences. this guy gets 2 life sentences for creating a website that allowed people to exchange bitcoins for services or goods. Silk Road was mainly known as a site that people could anonymously buy drugs using bitcoins, but im not sure the owner ever actually sold drugs himself. given he has no prior record, im pretty sure a first time drug dealer doesnt usually get a life sentence. i feel the judge tried to make an example of him to discourage anyone from trying to start a new "silk road". i really think when he appeals he will be given a lower sentence. anyone have any opinions on this?

No, I disagree with you in two ways.

First and most important, the fact that worse people have gotten away with less punishment is an entirely WRONG reason to let someone else off the hook.

I would have it so that the people who DID get away with murder and worse would have been punished more, but I'm sure not going to let ANOTHER vile person go free because I'm mad about them.

Second, this guy purposely made it possible to hurt thousands upon thousands of people, purely for his own profit. He doesn't even have the excuse of spur of the moment bad acts.

I don't give a damn how talented he is. The other people you cited who got off with lesser punishments were creative too. All of them CHOSE to use their talents to harm the rest of us.

Bye-bye.

1st. im not saying people who GOT AWAY with murder, im saying people who GOT CAUGHT and got less of a sentence than this guy. so you think its more of a crime to merely create a website that allows people to purchase good anonymously for bitcoins? than to rape or murder someone? ok, good logic.

2nd. im not sure how this guy "hurt thousands of people", im pretty sure the phony war on drugs has ruined plenty more lives than this guys website has. if people bought drugs off his website and used them i dont see how that is "hurting" them. he simply offered them a a site to buy goods anonymously. he didnt actually sell drugs himself.

nice try though igor.

"" Federal prosecutors, for their part, insisted
Ulbricht deserved far more than the 20-
year minimum sentence. In support of
their argument, Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Serrin Turner and Timothy Howard gave
Forrest details of six drug-overdose
deaths involving Silk Road drug buyers.
They also stressed trial evidence that
showed Ulbricht ordered and paid for
murder-for-hire plots to protect his
operation.
Dratel objected, arguing in part that
prosecutors failed to show sufficient
evidence showing the fatal overdoses were
directly linked to Silk Road drug buys. He
also noted that prosecutors did not seek
a major sentence enhancement for a Silk
Road worker who was sentenced to the
equivalent of a 14-month prison sentence
on Tuesday.
Forrest, however, said the issues should
be considered in sentencing. She listened
as two parents whose children died from
Silk Road drug overdoses gave deeply
emotional statements about their losses.
One victim, an athletic young kayaker
identified in a prosecution filing only by
his first name, Bryan, was an employee of
a small money management firm in
Boston. He was found dead in his
apartment in early October 2013, within
days of Ulbricht's arrest in San Francisco.
Bryan's father, Richard, addressed the
court and described how his son
apparently tried heroin during his senior
year in college, then spent the final two
years of his life battling drug urges.
The grieving father also wrote in a
separate victim impact statement that
Bryan used his computer to connect with
Silk Road, an operation that "eliminated
every obstacle that would keep serious
drugs away from anyone who was
tempted."
"Clearly my son made a horrible choice in
electing to try heroin in the first place,"
the father wrote.
However, after voicing his grief in a
statement that kept the packed courtroom
spectators rapt, the father told the court
that Ulbricht's motives and creation had
none of the theoretical, political or
socially redeeming characteristics claimed
by the darknet mastermind, his relatives
and other supporters.
"All Ross Ulbricht cared about was his
growing pile of bitcoins," the father said,
calling for "the most severe sentence the
law allowed."
"This is the behavior of a sociopath," he
concluded. ""
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/05/29/ulbricht-silk-road-sentencing/28072247/

Played a stupid azz Fed game....won a stupid azz Fed prize.....

It is well beyond ridiculous, it is a sign of the degradation into tyranny. Here is situation that is not a crime, there are no injured parties and he gets a life sentence without parole. But where there are injuries, like the bankers, they get little fines. It is the judge that should be hung on the court house steps for these treasonous acts.

Go figure.

what people do with the goods once they get them is on them though archer. like i said this guy didnt sell drugs himself. all he did was create a website where people could anonymously buy services or goods with bitcoin. what people posted for sale on there is on them.

if i go to mcdonalds and sit there and eat 100 cheeseburgers and die from a stroke, can my family sue mcdonalds and win? or would the judge say if your stupid enough to eat 100 cheeseburgers you deserved it. after all it wasnt mcdonalds that killed me, its was my own stupidity of what i did with the goods that i bought from them.

you see what im saying? he didnt overdose those people, they overdosed themselves on the goods they purchased from his website (not directly from him).

This rant reeks of a severe case of moral relativism, a severe lack of knowing the difference between right and wrong. Right is not what one wants to be right and wrong is not what one deems to be wrong because it goes against their desires.

As for the "Second", just where are the thousands that were "hurt"? Want to talk about hurt, what about Odumbo and all those people he has killed, woman and children included, because he needs to teach another sovereign country a lesson.

And of course you don't care about anything. The only harm to the "rest of you" are of your own making, that is if one where able to be responsible for personal action which is an impossibility for those suffering moral relativism.

Nah....no injuries, just deaths.....some of you people shlould pick your battles better, Good Lord lol

Hereeeeees your sign!

i agree, on the basis that he didnt really commit any crimes himself. he merely created a website that allowed people to anonymously exchange goods or services for bitcoins. he wasnt the drug dealer, or the hitman. all he did was create the site, what people posted on the site is on them. IMO they should have went after the people who were posting "murder for hire" ads and crap like that. investigators were prolly just lazy and figured they would go after him instead of taking the time to look for the actual criminals who posted on the site.

Exactly!!! The father of this "Bryan" was an idiot. Imagine the father calling Ulbricht a sociopath because his son had no personal responsibility, seems the son fulfilled his destiny. If it wasn't Silk Road, it would have been someone else.

Total lack of comprehension on just what "injured" means. If some idiot dies over something they did, who cares, there are still no injuries.

And then we all wonder just how this country got so screwed up, anybody got a mirror?

With all due respect....youre an idiot.

do you understand my point though archer? ill put it another way for you that may make it easier to understand

if i go to the liquor store and buy a bottle of 151, and go home and pound it all down in 10 minutes, and die. is it the liquor stores fault for selling it to me? or is it my own fault for being dumb enough to drink a bottle of 151 in 10 minutes? its not the liquor stores fault, they were providing me with a product of which i am responsible for once i leave the store. the liquor store didnt cause me to drink it all in 10 minutes, i did it myself because i was uneducated and thought i would get drunk quicker. do you see my point?

Drugs are not a crime, it is but the color of law devised to keep the prison system full.



Gots to have them slaves!!!

Good Lord Im in the land of dumbazzes lol.....Im out!

This is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!

Yes, as the head chair.

There is no respect and obviously poor judgement in more ways than one.

how do you figure, if youre going to say im a "dumbazz" you could atleast validate your argument.