He was never a drug dealer, he provided a platform that was used to sell drugs. The pardon was a surprise, however his sentence was unfairly strict and he was clearly made an example out of that hasn't happened to any other platform provider.
Just as an example, there have been investigations in to the use of Snapchat as a method for drug dealers and gangs of drug dealers to access kids to sell them drugs However there has been absolutely zero discussion in the public domain even about shutting it down or requiring new laws to stop this, let alone considering charging the owners.
Hmm, but you have to be squinting pretty hard to see an equivalence between Snapchat and silk road
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There is a huge difference between a communication platform that some users abuse for illegal purposes, and a platform whose primary purpose is a marketplace for illegal goods.
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It seems a big strectch, 99%+ revenue was from illegal goods, and it wasn’t like it was some decentralized blockchain marketplace.
The value created was reducing “legislative risk” for buyers and sellers of illegal goods.
Also, people just run ads on Facebook for drugs, counterfeit money, stolen debit cards.. it’s wild.
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