Trump Announces He Will Commute Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht's Sentence on Day One (VIDEO) | The Gateway expert

President Trump made a big announcement during his speech at the Libertarian National Convention.

During his speech, Trump told the crowd: “If you vote for me, I will commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence.”

“He's served for 11 years, we're going to bring him home,” Trump added.

As Trump made the statement, the crowd of libertarians roared with applause and began chanting “Ross.”

In 2015, Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for building and operating the Silk Road.

The Silk Road was a dark web marketplace that used cryptocurrency as a means of payment, allowing users to buy and sell goods anonymously.

Most of the goods sold on the Silk Road were illegal drugs.

WATCH:

BREAKING: Donald Trump announces he would commute Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht's sentence on day one during his speech at the Libertarian National Convention. pic.twitter.com/wusFicqqUz

— ALX (@alx) May 26, 2024

Per Coin desk:

Donald J. Trump has pledged to commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht's life sentence to time served if he is reelected president.

“If you vote for me, on Day 1 I will commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence to time served,” Trump said during his remarks Saturday evening at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC. We'll take him home.”
In his evening speech, Trump's promise to free Ulbricht was met with loud cheers from the assembled crowd, many of whom held up signs reading “Free Ross.”

In 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years – effectively life in prison without the possibility of parole – for setting up and operating the Silk Road. The now-defunct darknet marketplace was used to buy and sell goods anonymously, but was largely used for drugs. Silk Road operated from 2011 to 2013 and is widely considered the first real-world use case for Bitcoin.

Ulbricht has become something of a martyr to many in the crypto community, as well as to many libertarians, who see Ulbricht's draconian sentence as a government overreach and a violation of his constitutional rights. In 2018, the Libertarian Party called on then-President Trump to pardon Ulbricht.