CA - Ross Ulbricht & others for Silk Road online drug market, San Francisco, 2014

[JerseyGirl]

Judge shuts door on attempt to get a new trial for Ross Ulbricht

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...attempt-to-get-a-new-trial-for-ross-ulbricht/

 

[neesaki]

Such an old case and I’m just now reading about it, all because I have a bad case of insomnia.
Is anybody besides me surprised that RU was given such a harsh sentence, considering that much of the evidence used against him, was collected by a corrupt DEA agent and a corrupt SS agent? They didn’t even allow this information to be heard by the jury. It seems these circumstances would call into question whether RU was really DPR .

DEA Agent Who Faked a Murder and Took Bitcoins from Silk Road Explains Himself

No mention of Carl Mark Force IV made it into Ulbricht's trial. Neither did any mention of Shaun Bridges, the former Secret Service agent charged alongside him. The spree of crimes they committed as Silk Road investigators was under the seal of grand jury secrecy at the time. Bridges used the credentials of a Silk Road moderator-turned-informant to rob Dread Pirate Roberts, administrator of Silk Road. Force posed as a hitman and took money from DPR to kill the informant. Force and Bridges then faked the brutal murder of the informant.

Force was charged alongside Bridges, who also pled guilty and will be sentenced later this year. The Force/Bridges affair is deeply embarrassing for the government, and while it does not necessarily cast doubt on the fairness of Ulbricht's conviction, it has certainly made the whole affair an even bigger circus than before—a feat that many assumed to be impossible.

 

[Cryptic]

Is anybody besides me surprised that RU was given such a harsh sentence, considering that much of the evidence used against him, was collected by a corrupt DEA agent and a corrupt SS agent?

Had it not been a federal court, I might agree. But..... federal courts are famous / infamous for imposing long sentences.

Then factor that the defendant not only facilitated large scale drug and illegal fire arms trafficking, but he also challenged the legitimacy / authority of the federal government.

As more than a few tax protestors and militia men have found out, Uncle Sam does not like it- at all, when people engage in criminal activity and challenge the very legitimacy of his governmental authority. Such challenges threaten to undermine the entire system.

So.... Uncle Sam tends to make examples out of such people by adding more time to already long sentences. Even still, there might be light at the end of very, very long tunnel for the defendant.

I dont think the federal government has LWOP sentences per se. Rather, I believe federal life sentences amount to thirty years in prison with out the customary 15% good time reduction given to federal inmates.

 

[sds71]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-founder-ulbricht-online-drug-scheme-2025-01-22/