Those allegations of murder-for-hire actually dissuaded the first Trump administration from granting clemency to Ulbricht. The White House considered exonerating Ulbricht in 2020, but ultimately rejected the idea because of the alleged role of violence in the case, according to a former official involved in the process who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity.
Since then, however, the Trump administration has changed its stance on Ulbricht’s case – in part, perhaps, due to its embrace of the libertarian cryptocurrency community, for which Ulbricht has become a martyr and is known for. At the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC last May, then-presidential candidate Trump promised to reverse Ulbricht’s sentence “on day one” if re-elected. (Ultimately, day one passed without mercy for Ulbricht, even as Trump pardoned more than a thousand participants in the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, although Trump ally Elon Musk promised in a post to X on Monday night that ” Ross will also be freed.”)
What role Ulbricht will play in the free world is far from clear. Even in his statement to the judge at his sentencing in 2015, Ulbricht never fully acknowledged the harm caused by the Silk Road drug trade. And according to Jared Der-Yeghiayan, a former Homeland Security Investigations agent who infiltrated Silk Road during the investigation, Ulbricht still shows little remorse for his actions in his public submissions to X.
“The idea of him being released doesn’t bother me in the least,” said Der-Yeghiayan, who now works as head of strategic intelligence at cryptocurrency tracking firm Chainalysis. “I am bothered if there is now a perception that he did nothing wrong; it does not recognize the facts of the case.”
Among some advocates of criminal justice reform, however, Ulbricht has become an example of over-punishment, especially given that he was technically charged with non-violent crimes. “Ross has served more than enough time. He’s been a model prisoner. He’s a first-time, non-violent offender. He poses no safety risk to the community,” Alice Johnson, executive director of the justice reform foundation Taking Action for Good, told WIRED in November. Johnson herself spent two decades in prison for attempted possession with intent to distribute before Trump commuted her life sentence in 2018 and pardoned her in 2020. “I believe that Ross’s case will pave the way for many others who have wrongfully received these draconian sentences to come home.”
On Tuesday night, Ulbricht’s supporters celebrated his freedom and expressed their gratitude to Trump for his clemency. “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” reads a tweet from @Free_Ross, an X account dedicated to the more than decade-long effort on Ulbricht’s behalf. “President Trump is a man of his word and he just saved Ross’s life. ROSS IS A FREE MAN!!!!!”
Additional reporting by Joel Khalili