When reports first came out about this it was sensationalized. It's hard to say what's true and what's not around this case. The initial claims were that he transferred Bitcoin to some guy to kill people and send proof, but there's not anything further on this. It seems like that would have been easy to prove, which makes it even more curious why he was never charged for this if true.
The problem with cryptobros is that they possess no depth in analyzing sociopolitical situations.
Anyone who made a significant contribution to the crypto space (Ulbricht), or who made a contribution to a "free internet" (Kim Dotcom), or who exposed state secrets (Julian Assange), is an automatic hero.
It doesn't matter that Ulbricht contributed to massive drug dealing and illegal arms sales, and also attempted to hire a hitman.
It doesn't matter that Kim Dotcom ran a mass copyright infringement service for profit.
It doesn't matter that Assange decided for himself that no countries should have classified information or secrets, and took it upon himself to expose them.
They're all "heroes" to simpleton cryptobros.
They don't even understand why the above can't be allowed in a civilized society without punishment. If this sort of thing goes unpunished, society will descend into chaos. Laws exist for a reason. I'm all for looking the other way when it comes to minor, mostly victimless issues, but you can't endorse anarchy yet enjoy the spoils of a civilized society.
I understand the thinking. In the mid-late 80s, I ran into the whole anarchistic mindset online, and it appealed to me. After being told what to do all my life by parents, teachers, and other adults, it sounded cool to rebel against authority and do whatever the fuck I wanted. But as I grew older, I realized how stupid that whole concept was, and I realized the appeal to me was just via my own immaturity and lack of real world experience as a teenager.
These cryptobros aren't teens. Some are older than me, yet they haven't grown out of that mindset.
Well, one thing is for certain, he is poised to be an incredibly wealthy guy very soon. By all accounts he had a rough time in Federal prison. His story alone will generate a $50M payday on Netflix in a year long series. Add in a meme coin and speaking engagements, yeah, we are talking north of $100M in five years. To be fair, is $100M worth 12 years of freedom in some of the worst federal prisons in the country? I dunno. If you believe what you read, there was weeks at a time his prison was on 24 hour lockdown, meaning he never left his cell, that would break a lot of people.Originally Posted by VaughnP
Because he was scammed. No hitman received the bitcoin, and nobody was ever in danger, let alone harmed.
At that point, it becomes too hard to prove in court that Ulbricht was actually paying someone to commit murder. He could claim that he knew it was a scammer, and was setting the guy up, or one of many other BS explanations. He could even say that he had so much bitcoin at the time that he thought it would be amusing to hire a fake hitman, and see how long the guy keeps up the act.
It's different than hiring a hitman who is an undercover police officer, who is careful not to entrap.
I don’t care that he got pardoned because I agree with the notion that if one is going to buy drugs, his way was safer. But what about all the simple large dealers who got 30 and 40 years? He made more than all of them. Major marijuana dealers got far more time than he did. All kinds of peripheral people got far more time than he ended up getting.
If you fashion yourself tough on crime and law and order, think drug offenders should get long sentences, then this is a problem going forward if you care at all about hypocrisy .
Not saying you. I have no idea where you fall on drug sentencing.
https://reason.com/2018/07/25/ross-u...ire-charges-d/Having reported on Ross Ulbricht's prosecution since the beginning, I've found a startlingly large number of people who didn't follow the case closely believe his life sentence without parole for acts connected with launching the darkweb sales site Silk Road was because he was convicted for attempting to pay for the murder of people who'd stolen from or threatened him.
That's not true; such charges were no part of the crimes he was actually convicted for. The waters were muddied, almost certainly with cold deliberation, by the federal government because they had a separate indictment out of Maryland hanging over him for the past nearly five years that did include such accusations.
Last week Robert Hur, U.S. Attorney for the district of Maryland, filed a motion to have the indictment containing those charges dropped.
"Mr. Ulbricht's conviction and life sentence in the case handled by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York have been affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case," Hur said in a written statement. "We have dismissed the federal charges based on the same conduct pending against Mr. Ulbricht in Maryland, which allows us to direct our resources to other cases where justice has not yet been served."
Hur's statement contained an important misleading element. It isn't true that Ulbricht's serving his ridiculously punitive sentence based on the "same conduct" as in the dropped indictment from Maryland. That indictment includes a charge of "attempted witness murder" and many lurid details of the specifics of his alleged involvement in a case of (never actually committed) murder and torture. Those charges were no part of what Ulbricht was actually tried and sentenced for.
The real tragedy haunting this otherwise good news is the mere fact of the accusations, despite never being proven in court, played into the insanely and unprecedentedly draconian sentence Ulbricht received. The failed appeal to the Supreme Court wanted them to judge the propriety of sentencing based on unadjudicated accusations, but alas the Court didn't want to bother.
Some close to Ulbricht's defense, such as his mother Lyn Ulbricht, also wonder if the fact that the murder for hire accusations rely on the work of federal agents who were themselves charged for crimes committed in the course of the investigation into Silk Road might have played a role in the failure to ever go to trial on those accusations. The U.S. Attorney's office would not comment today on any possibility that might have played any role in their decision to drop that indictment.
It's good that the charges have been dropped, but the government's careless use of them as a media weapon to destroy Ulbricht's reputation and to encourage the sentencing judge to be far harsher than the crimes he was convicted on actually would warrant have alas already done their damage. It's hard not to think that was exactly why the indictment came down yet never went to court.
As Lyn Ulbricht said in a written statement, "We will be very relieved to have this indictment against Ross finally dismissed. It was the only indictment against him that included murder-for-hire, which made it especially harmful. By leaving it unprosecuted for almost five years? and Ross under a cloud of unproven allegations?the Maryland AUSA poisoned Ross's case. The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy, and hopefully fair, trial was written to protect the accused from this."
Now that Ulbricht has no chance of having his initial conviction and sentencing overturned or adjusted, it's likely the feds out of Maryland decided the indictment no longer was needed to make sure the government had some further means in their back pocket to punish Ulbricht for showing a safer, saner way around their insanely damaging drug war.
The guy obviously deserved to do serious time, but the way his cases were handled is unquestionably problematic.
Yes, that's one of many problems here.I don’t care that he got pardoned because I agree with the notion that if one is going to buy drugs, his way was safer. But what about all the simple large dealers who got 30 and 40 years? He made more than all of them. Major marijuana dealers got far more time than he did. All kinds of peripheral people got far more time than he ended up getting.
If you fashion yourself tough on crime and law and order, think drug offenders should get long sentences, then this is a problem going forward if you care at all about hypocrisy .
Not saying you. I have no idea where you fall on drug sentencing.
And even among the "legalize all drugs" crowd, there's the issue of kids. If dealers buy from Ulbricht's site and sell to kids, is that cool? What if kids buy directly from Ulbricht's site?
These questions fall by the wayside when discussing Ulbricht with cryptobros. All you get back is, "He was persecuted by the government! All he did was run a marketplace!"
I agree, "his way" was far more dangerous out of the raw convenience. Let's face it, if he had facial tattoos and last name Ramirez this guy is in prison forever. But he was a college graduate, nice looking white guy, his wholesome Mom stating her case for release. To analogize this it's the exact same thing as when a female suddenly goes missing. If she is 20 years old from a upper class neighborhood and a hot blonde its national news. 200 lbs black lady from east Chicago it does not even make it to a missing poster to a telephone pole.I don’t care that he got pardoned because I agree with the notion that if one is going to buy drugs, his way was safer. But what about all the simple large dealers who got 30 and 40 years? He made more than all of them. Major marijuana dealers got far more time than he did. All kinds of peripheral people got far more time than he ended up getting.
If you fashion yourself tough on crime and law and order, think drug offenders should get long sentences, then this is a problem going forward if you care at all about hypocrisy .
Not saying you. I have no idea where you fall on drug sentencing.
I actually think you will see a Breaking Bad type series come out of this for Ross. You could never tell the story in say a movie. You would need probably two years of shows, the first year leading up to the life of cyber crimes for a college kid, then second year of the brutal existence in a federal prison for over a decade. What makes it so interesting is it would be real, not a fictionalized script.
I had a relative in a federal prison for four years what was theft from a local government that involved federal money. He went to minimum security, which everyone said, "oh its just one of those country club type prisons". When I asked him about it, he just cringed. He said yeah country club for sure. Sleeping in the same room with 50 guys every night, shitting with no doors, rarely a hot shower, mice all over the place where you slept, guys constantly asking you for sex. Yeah real country club.
15 years running, feelings showing zero signs of no longer hurting.
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You know it takes a guy like Trump to make us both look like idiots.
what i find most shocking is that he has the balls to have hope.
like my nigga no, you dont have hope. hope is for people who deserve it. you were a drug kingpin and a murderer and you werent real good at either. so no hope for you, ross.
coffee is for closers.
https://www.kentuckytoday.com/news/m...b79ce4972.html
I mean this guy got roughly the same sentence for laundering far less money. Forget drugs. Forget ODs. Forget the hits they didn’t charge anyways.
11 years is a light sentence for any of those crimes at the scale he did them if they were stand alone crimes let alone all together. I don’t care because the podcasts will be great and I never thought the GOP was some law and order family values party. But some signifiant segment of the party actually still falls for the we are the Christian party nonsense. What amazing suckers those people are.
The best thing that ever happened to Ulbricht was the fake murders he paid for. They didn’t charge him, and it allowed his supporters to obfuscate the whole issue and not act like it was saying free a drug kingpin, money launderer, arms dealer, etc because that is what this is. The corrupt agents just made it easy to shape a narrative around shit that wasn’t even charged. Amazing hustle. Kid will be hanging at Mar Lago in a week with 2 hot blondes on his arm.
SBF has to be so tilted at his 25 years after all his investors got paid back with interest because everything he invested in is through the roof. If this is 11 year crimes, his are 30 day crimes. I’d start praising Trump every day if I’m him. Maybe he can catch a back door pardon on his way out.
The whole pardon thing is so absurd now, they are simply used as political favors, it really began with Bill Clinton when he pardoned Marc Rich because he was a big donor. It obviously has become almost a universal joke now. What was once an act of clemency to correct an unjust decision, is now just "I took care of you because you took care of me'.
I just hope Trump pardons P-Diddy in exchange for singing at Barron's wedding down the road.
3 things:
1. at the federal level, once convicted, other bad acts even if not proven at trial, are part of the presentencing report which will add time to one's range. i never believede it was legal, but that decision was made without me.
2. no one has mentioned SBF not getting a pardon. i'm glad he didn't. but man, he paid enough that i wouldn't have been surprised.
3. speaking of #2, i'm also surprised Mayorkas didn't receive one as he was doing biden's bidding. i bet he won't sleep well for a while.
https://twitter.com/AltcoinDailyio/status/1881931991609946552
Trump Pardoned Ross Ulbricht..
3 things:
1. at the federal level, once convicted, other bad acts even if not proven at trial, are part of the presentencing report which will add time to one's range. i never believede it was legal, but that decision was made without me.
2. no one has mentioned SBF not getting a pardon. i'm glad he didn't. but man, he paid enough that i wouldn't have been surprised.
3. speaking of #2, i'm also surprised Mayorkas didn't receive one as he was doing biden's bidding. i bet he won't sleep well for a while.
Yeah, I knew they considered the hits during sentencing, and 2 LWOP plus 40 is extreme, but this isn't dropping it from that to a 30 year sentence. It's out today. I have known guys who were medium level regional drug dealers get popped. Where 5-10 years of dealing drugs might allow for them to buy a strip bar and a decent house and have a few hundred k laying around and they do like 9 years after ratting on each other and everyone else. This kid facilitated millions of drug deals and everything on his site was the heaviest crimes from hitmen to meth and he piled up $13 million in a short time frame. He'd get 25 years in Western Europe for what he did. He's getting almost life for this in any other scenario other than he becomes the poster boy for a niche of the electorate.
You’re thinking too deeply about this transaction BCR
Trump is currying favor with the precocious disrupters and edgy libertarians.
Trump has long promised he would do it and he followed through.
Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin and that very influential crowd won’t forget (or held him to it). They have already assured Trump future riches.
As well, the Silk Road and this ending is one wild ass story. Ross went from life in prison to celebrity and riches on the vagaries of the Democratic Party’s ineptness
Won’t hurt him in the polls either with the normie bitcoiners and young women who are about to learn who Ross was
Ross Ulbright was/is a genius who apparently fucked up in more ways than one
1) Threatened the banking system/American dollar
2) Allegedly put a hit on someone
Both are going to come with a long sentence, but the second ensures a lengthy sentence unless proven false.
"The founding fathers did not like the idea of the tyranny of the majority ruling the country"
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I get it. The day of the election I said I am most curious to see if he frees Ross on the first day and someone, I can't recall who, said it was just another campaign promise, but I didn't think so. It wasn't vague lock her up or build that wall shit. This was a promise to people who won't forget and don't naturally worship you. I was curious because it would be the first concrete sign if this was Trump unchained. All the other first day stuff is largely popular with the whole right. This though, this is different. First term he lets the establishment people reel him back in on this promise. Now though, surrounded by loyalists, it doesn't matter that he said I am going to give drug dealers the death penalty 3 months ago and just freed one of the largest. Doesn't matter. He's surrounded by tech bros on ketamine and Adderall all day and none of what anyone said yesterday matters. It's so interesting after 4 years of a recluse doddering president.
I recall back on NWP when we were arguing over the Port Authority Act and all the family values stuff that I always said I would rather live in Pottersville than Bedford Falls. Speakeasys, jazz, loose women, con men. Mary was beautiful, but I never wanted to do the Charleston and jump in the pool. I'd rather throw dice and hang with Violet. We have arrived. I will see if I enjoy it. I have a feeling it's going to be like some of my early trips to Vegas where after the first night I wished I had booked for a month and by the 4th night was wondering how I was going to stay alive for the next 3 days and wondering why I didn't book a 4 day 3 night instead of a week. It's just so much sensory overload so quickly.
How badly does Hunter wish he was Don Jr's older brother? This whole scene with all the uppers and frenetic energy. He has to feel like he was born to the wrong family and wish so badly he could join the party. I mean you can picture them doing lines and getting into a fight over something and then crying and then making up all in the course of a few hours at Mar Lago on some random weeknight.
To add some perspective, today there exist a half dozen Silk Roads.
I can only imagine some of them are miles ahead of the Feds security wise
"The founding fathers did not like the idea of the tyranny of the majority ruling the country"
Dan Druff
“I don't know what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Albert Einstein
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today if a gift
and that is why it's called the present"
Eleanor Roosevelt
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