Those murder-for-hire allegations, in fact, deterred the first Trump administration from granting clemency to Ulbricht. The White House in 2020 considered releasing Ulbricht but ultimately rejected the idea because of the alleged role of violence in the case, according to a government official involved in the process who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity.
Since then, however, the Trump administration has changed its stance on Ulbricht’s case—in part, perhaps, due to the libertarian cryptocurrency community’s acceptance, Ulbricht has become a martyr and cause célèbre. At the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, last May, former president Trump promised to reverse Ulbricht’s sentence “on day one” if re-elected. (In the end, the first day passed without sympathy for Ulbricht, as Trump pardoned more than a thousand participants on January 6, 2021, in a coup in the US Capitol, although Trump ally Elon Musk promised in a post on X Monday evening that ” Ross will also be released.”)
What role Ulbricht will play in the free game remains unclear. Even in his statement to the judge at his sentencing hearing in 2015, Ulbricht never fully acknowledged the damage caused by the Silk Road drug trade. And according to Jared Der-Yeghiayan, a former Homeland Security Investigations agent who went undercover on Silk Road during the investigation, Ulbricht still shows little remorse for his actions in his public service to X.
“The idea of him being released doesn’t bother me at all,” said Der-Yeghiayan, who now works as head of strategic intelligence at cryptocurrency tracking firm Chainalysis. “I worry if there is now an opinion that he did nothing wrong; that does not admit the facts of the case.”
Among other advocates of criminal justice reform, however, Ulbricht has become an example of extreme sentencing, especially given that he was technically charged for non-violent crimes. “Ross has served more than enough time. He has been a model prisoner. He is the first, he is a non-violent criminal. He’s not a risk to public safety,” Alice Johnson, CEO of the justice organization Taking Action for Good, told WIRED in November. Johnson spent two decades in prison for attempted possession with intent to distribute before Trump commuted his life sentence in 2018 and pardoned him in 2020. severe sentences to return home.”
On Tuesday night, Ulbricht’s supporters celebrated his freedom and expressed their gratitude to Trump for his clemency. “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” read a tweet from @Free_Ross, the X account dedicated to the more than decade-long effort on Ulbricht’s behalf. “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
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