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Dark Web Creator Petitions President Trump for Clemency

Loaded on Oct. 1, 2020 by Edward Lyon published in Prison Legal News October, 2020, page 21
Filed under: Pardons/Clemency. Location: Arizona.

by Ed Lyon

Young Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts) was an Eagle Scout, held scholarships throughout college, earned a master’s degree, worked in science, and became a self-described peaceful entrepreneur. A supporter of liberty, personal privacy, and free markets, Ulbricht founded the website Silk Road when he was 26.

Somewhat analogous to Star Wars’ young Aniken Skywalker’s journey to the Dark Side of The Force, Ulbricht’s Silk Road moved to the Dark Web. Silk Road quickly became a virtual hotspot for selling all manner of illegal goods, including narcotics, fake passports, and credit card information.

During Silk Road’s short-lived tenure between 2011 and 2013, it reputedly became the world’s largest virtual black-market economy. Paying for the illicit items available on Silk Road was accomplished through Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency. Ulbricht had reportedly made more than $100 million by the time he was arrested in 2013.

As Ulbricht’s 2015 trial for money laundering, conspiracy, and computer hacking progressed, allegations of six murder-for-hire plots were brought up. During final arguments, the prosecutor told the jury none of the alleged contract murders ever happened. Why then bring unadjudicated offenses before a petit jury to support the charged offenses that culminated in two life-without-parole and one 40-year sentence?

Ross’ parents, Lyn and Kirk Ulbricht have initiated a clemency petition drive, requesting President Trump to deliver their son from what is effectively a death by incarceration sentence. They have gained support from over 250 organizations and prominent individuals, from the right to the left of the political spectrum.

His online clemency petition had garnered over 340,000 signatures as of early August, but as of publication, President Trump has not acted. 

 

Sources: azcentral.com, decrypt.co, freeross.org

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  1. The Toughest Love, by Julia Lurie
  2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  3. $400,000 Settlement in Lawsuit over Kentucky Prisoner’s Starvation Death, by Matthew Clarke
  4. Why Did 77 Ohio Prisoners Die of COVID-19, but Just 10 in Pennsylvania?, by Cid Standifer, Brie Zeltner
  5. New York Jail Accused of Discrimination by Female Prisoners, by Kevin Bliss
  6. BOP Inspector General Rips State for Failure to Control COVID-19 at Lompoc in California, by Derek Gilna
  7. Dark Web Creator Petitions President Trump for Clemency, by Edward Lyon
  8. Prison Postcard: Life in the Time of COVID, Correctional Center, Virginia, by Daniel A. Rosen
  9. Growing Need to Protect Attorney-Client Emails, by Jayson Hawkins
  10. GEO Group and CoreCivic Lose Critical Financial Support, by Keith Sanders
  11. New York Governor Cuomo Creates Prison Nursing Home During Pandemic, by Anthony Accurso
  12. Danish Funds Invest In American Private Prisons, by David Reutter
  13. $12.5 Million Settlement for Oklahoma Prisoner’s In-Custody Death Riled Sheriff’s Race, by Kevin Bliss
  14. Philadelphia Jails to Release Prisoners Earlier in the Day, by Bill Barton
  15. Michigan Settles Sex Abuse Claims by 1,300 Former Juvenile Offenders Housed With Adults for $80 Million, by David Reutter
  16. Wisconsin Supreme Court Reverses “Dangerousness” Finding in Involuntary Commitment of Schizophrenic Man, by David Reutter
  17. Report: New Jersey Women’s Prison Promoted Culture of Abuse, by Kevin Bliss
  18. Missouri Downsizing Prisons to Save Cash, by Bill Barton
  19. Trump v. Biden on Criminal Justice, by Christopher Zoukis, Charles Sloan-Hillier
  20. Alaska Supreme Court Upholds Dismissal of Delusional Prisoner’s Medical Malpractice Claim, by Dale Chappell
  21. DC Federal Court Enters Partial Preliminary Injunction Against District Jails For COVID-19 Deficiencies, by Derek Gilna
  22. $300,000 a Year Not Enough to Convince Psychiatrists to Work in California Prisons, by Dale Chappell
  23. Poetry for the Prisoners’ Soul, by Edward Lyon
  24. Damage to South Carolina Prisons Shifts Prisoners to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, by Derek Gilna
  25. Offensive Facebook Posts Cost Wisconsin Warden His Job, by Kevin Bliss
  26. Mother of Decapitated Prisoner Sues California Prison Officials for Housing Her Son with Prisoner Who Tried to Murder Previous Cellmate, by Matthew Clarke
  27. More Than Half of Chicago’s COVID-19 Cases Linked to Cook County Jail, by Dale Chappell
  28. Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Unconstitutional Statute Authorizing Forcible Medication of Involuntarily Committed Prisoner, by Matthew Clarke
  29. Wildfires Threaten Prisoners in West, While New California Law Helps Prisoner-Firefighters to Continue Work After Release, by Dale Chappell
  30. National Guard Called in to Help Run Indiana State Prisons, by Dale Chappell
  31. Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Pay-To-Vote for Florida Felons Who Completed Sentences, by David Reutter
  32. Ford Foundation President’s Support to Replace Rikers With Other Jails Criticized, by Chad Marks
  33. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994: 25 Years Later, Where Do We Stand?, by Dale Chappell
  34. California Judge Reconsiders Six Months’ Jail for Cookie Theft at Rehab Program, by Anthony Accurso
  35. How Kamala Harris’ Orange County, California “Snitch” Scandal Investigation Imploded, by Derek Gilna
  36. Conditions at South Carolina Juvenile Facility Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
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  38. First Wrongful Death Claim Against San Quentin Prison Filed Over COVID-19 Death, by Dale Chappell
  39. Lawsuit Over Hellish 9-Day Prisoner Transport Reinstated, by David Reutter
  40. Theft, Lies and Bribes Force California Warden’s Early Retirement, $11,500 Monthly Pension, by Mark Wilson
  41. Seventh Circuit Protects Guards Who Allegedly Failed to Protect Wisconsin Prisoner, by David Reutter
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  43. Mental Health and Prison Systems in Major Need of Reform, by Kevin Bliss
  44. NYC Floating Jail May Finally be Closed, by Jayson Hawkins
  45. Fourth Circuit Holds South Carolina DOC Lawyers Entitled to Qualified Immunity, by David Reutter
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  48. Fifth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Texas Jail Prisoner’s Death, by Matthew Clarke
  49. Prisoners Evacuated but ICE Detainees in Louisiana Suffer During Hurricane Laura, by Edward Lyon
  50. Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Texas Jail Suicide Lawsuit, Holds Discrimination Not Proven, by Matthew Clarke
  51. News in Brief

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