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mplewis | on: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
What evidence would you have even needed to plant? He ran the largest internet drug market and openly tried to assassinate a competitor.
TheAmazingRace | parent | next
Agreed. He willingly engaged with the alleged hitman (which ended up being the FBI contact). He didn't need to do anything or not have the thought to murder others cross his mind.
andirk | root | parent
Allegedly. The 2 rules of his Fight Club were no underage sex stuff and no physical harm. That hitman claim was not part of his charges or sentencing. The heavy sentencing was to like "send a message" the judge said.
TheAmazingRace | root | parent
They weren't part of his sentencing because a different court entirely was pursuing the hit for hire attempt charge, but because another court in NY got the book thrown at him for running the site, they decided to drop it because it didn't seem necessary anymore.

In hindsight, the prosecution probably wished they didn't do that, since they are said to have had overwhelming evidence and proof, and there is even a Wired article about chat logs pertaining to DPR seeking services, but those are the breaks! If you don't do your due diligence, criminals can be let off on a technicality too!

andirk | root | parent
I haven't looked into the case(s) for years, but prosecutors don't often just drop charges because other charges were found guilty. People get charged even after life sentences have been handed down.
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plsbenice34 | parent | next
Many people, including myself, do not believe that he really did any of the activity related to the assassination attempts. Demonstrably corrupt law enforcement agents had the opportunity to do it all themselves and it would be typical behaviour for those agencies. He is (and was) politically passionate about non-violence and it would go against everything he stood for. I cannot believe he would do it. What do you mean "openly"?
mikeyouse | root | parent
He wrote about them extensively in his journals - journals he could have disclaimed if they were faked but were obviously not.
plsbenice34 | root | parent
I can't say anything about these journals because I cant even remember anything about them. It certainly isn't obvious to me, since the case is incredibly complex and objectively fraught with corruption
nadermx | parent | next
He never admitted to the attempted murder. So it's not a leap to assume that might of been tainted
seanw444 | root | parent | next
But the feds would never attempt shading means of solving a problem that they're being heavily pressured to solve in a timely manner! Don't be a hecking conspiracy theorist.
jMyles | parent
> openly tried to assassinate a competitor.

Unmitigated nonsense. The evidence that he was involved in this is somewhere between unreliable and nonexistent, and he (and the supposed victim) have disputed it since day one. WTF do you mean "openly"?

cbg0 | root | parent
Is this between unreliable and non-existent ?

- Log files found on Ulbricht's laptop with entries corresponding to the murder-for-hire events

- Bitcoin transaction records showing payments

- Messages between DPR and vendors/users about the situations

The court found this evidence admissible as:

- Direct evidence of the charged offenses

- Proof of Ulbricht's role as site administrator

- Evidence of Ulbricht's identity as DPR

- Demonstration of his willingness to use violence to protect the criminal enterprise

The court determined that while prejudicial, the probative value of this evidence outweighed any unfair prejudice, particularly since the government would stipulate no murders actually occurred.

The above is summarized from https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-ulbricht-10

39x9 | root | parent
Except the government blocked a codefendant from testifying that Ross wasn't the current DPR. The person who set up the fake murder was a Secret Service agent who went to federal prison. The target, Curtis Green, said the alleged diary was suspect. The court also kept out the role of the two convicted federal agents, not to mention 8+ other federal employees who committed crimes or unethical behavior.

And an indictment is not proof that the allegations are real or not manipulated. US Attorneys are a deeply amoral group, they don't care about truth or justice, just winning at any cost.

cbg0 | root | parent
> Except the government blocked a codefendant from testifying that Ross wasn't the current DPR.

What is this based on? Can't find this on Google.

Also, which fake murder are you talking about? There were 6 alleged murder-for-hire solicitations.