Trump Pardons Jailed Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht

Trump made the announcement on Tuesday in a post to his Truth Social platform, where he initially misspelled Ulbricht's name. Trump said he had called Ulbricht's mother "to let her know that in honour of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross".

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison after a 2015 conviction in connection to his work running Silk Road, a dark web marketplace where customers used virtual currencies to buy illegal drugs and hacker tools. In its two years in operation, more than US200-million worth of illicit activity flowed through the site, according to the department of justice.

Trump vowed to offer Ulbricht clemency during an address to the Libertarian Party convention during the 2024 campaign, part of an effort to win the support of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

"If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht," Trump said at the convention. "We're going to get him home."

Better known by his online pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts", Ulbricht - age 40 - was imprisoned in 2013 and was serving a double-life sentence without the possibility of parole for drug trafficking crimes as well as conspiracy to commit computer hacking and money laundering. Prosecutors also alleged that he tried to arrange murders to protect his business but the government did not believe any were carried out.