Alleged Silk Road Kingpin Ross Ulbricht Convicted Of Seven Charges

The ongoing trial against Ross Ulbricht, creator of the dark web conglomerate The Silk Road, has come to a head today as a jury has convicted Ulbricht of seven cybercrime-related charges. 

A Manhattan jury took only three and a half hours of deliberation to convict Ulbricht, who was charged for narcotics-trafficking, money-laundering and computer-hacking conspiracies overnight. Ulbricht also faces a charge of “Continuing Criminal Enterprise”, often known as the “kingpin” charge, which is generally targeted at drug cartel leaders and drug-trafficking groups.

Ross Ulbricht now faces a mandatory minimum 20 years in prison, with a maximum life sentence. The sentencing is scheduled for May 15.

During the trial, Ulbricht’s defence was quick to pin the creation of The Silk Road on their client. However, Ulbricht’s attorneys claimed that Ulbricht was not the latest and most notorious Dread Pirate Roberts, a Silk Road member and leader, citing that Ulbricht had abandoned the Silk Road as it became “too stressful”.  

Ulbricht’s defence claim that he was framed: “The real Dread Pirate Roberts is out there,” lead attorney Joshua Dratel said. 

The State’s case against Ulbricht proved all-too iron clad for the jury, after evidence procured from Ulbricht was presented: information from the 30-year-old’s personal computer, chat logs and personal diary entries were revealed at trial. 

“Silk Road is going to become a phenomenon and at least one person will tell me about it, unknowing that I was its creator,” The Guardian quotes as one of Ulbricht’s 2010 journal entries.

“This is not the end,” said Ulbricht’s mother upon heading her son’s verdict, according to Wired.

Via Wired.
Lead image by Spencer Platt via Getty.

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