| schema:text
| - In January 2025, a claim (archived) circulated that U.S. President Donald Trump had pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who was imprisoned for operating the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
The rumor was true. On Jan. 22, 2025, Trump announced Ulbricht's pardon on Truth Social, calling (archived) his prison sentence "ridiculous." Federal documentation confirmed the grant of clemency (archived).
In 2015, a federal judge in Manhattan sentenced (archived) Ulbricht to life in prison for drug trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering (archived). At the time of Ulbricht's sentencing, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called him "a drug dealer and criminal profiteer" and said he "exploited people's addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people," per a 2015 press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the office, Ulbricht, who was known as "Dread Pirate Roberts" (archived) on Silk Road, created the underground website in January 2011 and oversaw its operation until authorities shut it down in October 2013. Users sold more than $200 million (archived) in illegal drugs on the "sprawling black-market bazaar" (archived) using the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The site offered other services, including hacking equipment and stolen passports.
Federal documentation — an "Executive Grant of Clemancy" (archived) signed by Trump — says he granted a "full and unconditional pardon" to Ulbricht. CBS News, ABC News, BBC News and other reputable news outlets also reported on the pardon. A presidential pardon does not erase Ulbricht's federal conviction.
Trump's Truth Social post (archived) announcing Ulbricht's clemency read in full:
"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor 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. The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who campaigned for Ulbricht's freedom, celebrated news of his release on X (archived), while other users on the platform decried Trump's pardon. One popular post called it "the most ludicrous pardon in American history."
(@RepThomasMassie)
Trump moved swiftly to issue pardons following his second presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, including to 1,500 of his supporters (archived) who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)