On day three of his administration, President Trump upheld his promise made during his visit to the Libertarian National Convention during his campaign and gave a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht.
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| Trump signing pardon of Ross Ulbricht |
Ulbricht's release had become a cause of many libertarians and crypto ecosystem proponents. He had been sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years after being convicted of creating an online drug market, called the Silk Road.
According to Federal prosecutors, the Silk Road generated hundreds of millions of illicit dollars, and Ulbricht was its creator. Upon notice of his pending arrest, he fled and became the subject of a manhunt which ended in his arrest in San Francisco in 2013.
After his arrest and conviction, Ulbricht went silent and did not give any interviews or meetings. However, in 2019 he started working with two documentarian filmmakers, Jonah Tulis and Blake Harris, who taped over 60 hours of conversational interviews with Ulbricht. These interviews are now being complied into a documentary film to be released this year.
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| Members of Libertarian Party demanding Ulbricht's release |
"Our film is a no holds-barred look at what really happened and how things wound up spiraling out of control", states Jonah Tulis. The film also includes interviews and conversations with FBI and Federal prosecutors who investigated, brought charges against, and won their case against Ulbricht.
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| Jonah Tulis |
The Silk Road played a big role in popularizing Bitcoin (which was the Silk Road's currency of choice) causing cryptocurrency enthusiasts and libertarians, who have shared ideals regarding the use of digital currency vs. sovereign, government issued money.
Convicted under the Obama Administration, many legal scholars felt that the life without parole sentence for money laundering was excessive and the Justice Department and presiding Judge wanted to make an example out of Ulbricht. When signing Ross Ulbricht's pardon, President Trump stated that the sentence was "ridicules and he had already served over 11 years in prison."
Tulis and Harris previous documentaries include 'Console Wars' and 'GameStop: Rise of the Players'. The Ross Ulbricht documentary as yet to be titled.
By: Jim Lavorato
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