Donald Trump pardons creator of dark web marketplace who was serving a life sentence in prison

It's a new era for America and a new term for President Donald Trump, as the business mogul and former host of The Apprentice finds himself back in office. Joining an exclusive club alongside Grover Cleveland as the only US President to serve non-consecutive terms, Donald Trump is officially the 47th President of the United States.

Despite only being in office since January 20, Trump has wasted no time signing executive orders to delay the TikTok ban, announcing billion-dollar AI plans, and even reinstating the Oval Office's Diet Coke button.

One of Joe Biden's last acts in office was to controversially and pre-emptively pardon five members of his family, which has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Over to Trump, one of his first acts was to commute the sentences of 14 people indicted in the January 6 riots, as well as Washington DC police officers Andrew Zabavsky and Terence Sutton, and Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht.

While all are controversial, Ulbricht is arguably the most contentious - especially as he was sentenced to double life in prison plus 40 years without the possibility of parole. Appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2017 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 were denied. However, President Trump spoke at the Libertarian National Convention and vowed to release Ulbricht if elected. This was something echoed by presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while Wired magazine claimed Ulbricht's potential pardon was a single-issue voting concern for many in the cryptocurrency community.

After being incarcerated since 2013 and sentenced in 2015, Trump has issued Ulbricht a 'full and unconditional pardon'. Writing on his Truth Social platform, the POTUS said: "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous."

Ulbricht is known for creating the underground Silk Road marketplace on the dark web. During Silk Road’s time, it's said that more than $200 million was made through illicit trade using Bitcoin. Activated on the dark web in 2011, Silk Road took its name from the historic trade routes but had a much more modern use. Reportedly used to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs to over 100,000 buyers, Ulbricht is said to have made over $13 million in commission.

When he was sentenced, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said: "Make no mistake: Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people's addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people."

Prosecutors claimed that Ulbricht was also involved in several murder-for-hire schemes and tried to link him to the death of a former employee, although he was never tried.

Ulbricht was ordered to forfeit $183.9 million at the time of sentencing, which was also brought back into the news when 50,676 Bitcoin that had been stolen from Silk Road in 2013 was seized in 2021. Both sides agreed that the Department of Justice would take custody of the Bitcoin and Ulbricht would use the funds (now worth nearly $5.35 billion in 2025) to help pay his $183 million debt.

Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle cheered Ulbricht’s release and said: "Ross Ulbricht has been a libertarian political prisoner for more than a decade. I’m proud to say that saving his life has been one of our top priorities and that has finally paid off."

The pardon comes as Trump vows to go in the opposite direction of the Biden administration's crackdown on cryptocurrency regulations.