The man jailed for life in connection with the darknet marketplace he founded could be a free man again if Donald Trump is reelected as president.
The FBI shut down the clandestine Silk Road web operation in 2013. It allowed its users to trade in illegal drugs, using Bitcoin as the currency for transactions.
Donald Trump promised to commute the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht during an address Saturday at the Libertarian National Convention. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 following his conviction on charges including money laundering, drug trafficking and computer hacking.
Trump said he could potentially release Ulbricht on time served.
Libertarian activists believe the government overreached in building its case against Silk Road. They also generally oppose criminal drug policies more broadly, the Associated Press noted.
Ulbricht's case was much-discussed this weekend the Libertarian Annual Convention in Washington, D.C., and many in the crowd for Trump's speech hoisted "Free Ross" signs.
"If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht," Trump said in one of the few moments during his speech when he wasn't booed.
Who is Ross Ulbricht?
Ulbricht grew up in Austin, Texas, and graduated from high school in 2002.
He attended the University of Texas at Dallas and graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in physics.
He attended Penn State for graduate studies and became interested in Libertarian topics before graduating in 2009 and moving back to Austin.
What was Silk Road?
Ulbricht started the site in 2011.
In a diary entry that was read at his trial, he described the idea for what he wanted to create as a "website where people could buy anything anonymously, with no trail whatsoever that could lead back to them."
He ran it under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts," after a character from the movie "The Princess Bride."
How was Silk Road brought down?
Law enforcement began investigating Silk Road for possible criminal activity.
They said Silk Road was used by numerous drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute massive quantities of illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services to many buyers and to launder all funds passing through it.
A federal drug agency investigator was able to infiltrate the leadership of the site and became an administrator.
Investigators were able to eventually zone in on Ulbricht by going through chat logs and other information on the server.
Ulbricht was charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and other charges in 2014.
He was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to two life terms.
The federal government later snagged $48,238,116 in proceeds from the sale of the 144,336 Bitcoins that were found on Ulbricht's computer.
