Appeals court affirms conviction and life sentence of Silk Road darknet mastermind Ross Ulbricht for founding and operating an online marketplace where illegal drugs were bought anonymously in bitcoin deals.
Silk Road darknet mastermind Ross Ulbricht has lost his appeal of his life-behind-bars sentence for founding and operating an online marketplace that made illegal drug purchases virtually as easy as clicking a computer mouse.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected arguments by defense lawyers that Ulbricht was deprived of his constitutional right to a fair trial and subjected to a «demonstrably unreasonable» punishment.
The ruling found no legal grounds for reversing Ulbricht’s conviction or 2015 sentence for founding and operating Silk Road. Prosecution evidence showed Ulbricht used the nom de Net Dread Pirate Roberts — taken from The Princess Bride novel and movie — and presided over a criminal version of eBay that brought thousands of buyers and sellers together for Bitcoin-funded transactions in illegal drugs.
The trial court «gave Ulbricht’s sentence the thorough consideration that it required, reviewing the voluminous sentencing submissions, analyzing the factors required by law, and carefully weighing Ulbricht’s mitigating legal arguments, » Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch wrote in a 139-page ruling. «Under the law, we cannot say that its decision was substantively unreasonable.»
Accordingly, the three-judge panel affirmed both the trial result and punishment «in all respects.»
Joshua Dratel, Ulbricht’s lead defense attorney, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the decision.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc
