Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, founder of online drug market Silk Road

President Donald Trump said he granted a pardon Tuesday to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the online marketplace Silk Road — a campaign promise Trump had made to libertarian voters. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president said signing the pardon was his “pleasure” and called the life sentence Ulbricht was serving “ridiculous.”

The White House on Tuesday confirmed Trump had signed the pardon.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 after being convicted on seven counts, including conspiracy and money laundering, related to the anonymous marketplace website he created that was used to sell drugs and other illegal goods.

Ulbricht, who was known online by the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a reference to a character in the 1987 movie “The Princess Bride,” created Silk Road in 2011. He operated the website until it was shut down by law enforcement authorities in 2013. Operating on the dark web, transactions on Silk Road were made using bitcoin, and Ulbricht was considered a pioneer in the use of cryptocurrency.

Brandon Sample, Ulbricht’s clemency attorney, said in an email that Ulbricht and his family were “deeply and eternally grateful” to Trump, calling the pardon an “extraordinary act of grace.”

“This decision offers Ross the opportunity to begin anew, to rebuild his life, and to contribute positively to society,” Sample added.

The Libertarian Party has long sought Ulbricht’s release, and when Libertarians invited Trump to their national convention in May, he said that, if elected, he would grant clemency in the case.

Trump’s speech was loudly heckled by the audience, but many cheered when he made the promise about Ulbricht’s pardon.

“If you vote for me, on Day One, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht,” Trump said.

Party Chair Angela McArdle had told The Washington Post on Monday that she had been in touch with Trump’s aides about the pardon, and she was told that the president would keep his promise. McArdle pushed back against criticism within the party that Trump’s action wasn’t immediate and that he had expressed other anti-libertarian views. She said the Trump team was engaged, and he had listened to her when she visited him at Mar-a-Lago after his election victory.

“I think our members need to keep some perspective,” McArdle said Monday. “We kind of have to share his attention with a whole lot of other issues and a lot of other people. Jan. 6, hostages in Gaza, a lot of other people getting pardons that we don’t know.”