Inside Trump’s Decision to Pardon Ross Ulbricht, the Creator of the Silk Road Drug Marketplace

In December 2023, Angela McArdle, chair of the Libertarian Party, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald J. Trump.

Ms. McArdle said in an interview that Mr. Trump wanted to know how to win over liberal voters, a constituency he believed could help him reclaim the presidency. She had an answer: free Ross Ulbrichta Bitcoin pioneer who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for creating Silk Road, the world’s largest online drug market. Mr. Ulbricht was seen as a libertarian hero because he built an illegal market beyond the government’s reach.

“I love liberating people,” Mr. Trump said, according to Ms. McArdle. Five months later, she hosted him at the Liberal Party’s national convention, where he announced on stage that, if elected to the presidency, he would free Mr. Ulbricht.

On Tuesday, the day after his inauguration. Mr. Trump has succeeded On this promise. He called Mr. Ulbricht’s mother, Lynn Ulbricht, to personally tell her that he had granted a full pardon to her son, who is now 40. mail On Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the decision was “a tribute to her and the libertarian movement that has supported me so strongly.”

Pardoning Mr. Ulbricht was not an obvious item on Mr. Trump’s agenda. Unlike almost 1,600 people received pardons or reduced sentences This week because of their involvement in the Jan. 6 riot, Mr. Ulbricht has had little direct contact with the president. But the move has been long in the making, after more than a decade of activism by Mr. Ulbricht’s supporters — including cryptocurrency investors, libertarian politicians and especially Ms. Ulbricht, who has been a staunch supporter of her son’s release.

Many of them enjoyed an unusual level of access to Mr. Trump. When it became clear last year that Mr. Trump would be the Republican nominee, they mounted a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign for a pardon — including pledging to raise money for his election bid — in what turned into a case study in how a special interest group can mobilize to influence the president.

Ms. McArdle said she was contacted by Mr. Trump by Richard Grenell, one of his longtime advisers and the former acting director of national intelligence, who suggested she treat talks with Mr. Trump like trade negotiations.

“Rick would say, ‘He’s a deal maker, Angela,’” she said. “Don’t be afraid to ask for something.”

Mr. Grenell, Ms. Ulbricht and the Trump administration did not respond to requests for comment.

Dan Richman, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Columbia Law School, said Mr. Ulbricht’s pardon shows that “if you have a concentrated base of people around Trump, you have a very good chance of getting a pardon.” “There are problems with a pardon system that works this way.”

Mr. Ulbricht launched Silk Road in 2011 and turned it into one of the most popular outposts of the so-called “dark web,” a hidden corner of the internet that people can only access through a private browser. Silk Road has facilitated more than 1.5 million transactions, Generate more than Authorities said proceeds from the sale of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs amounted to $200 million. Users transacted anonymously in Bitcoin, then an emerging cryptocurrency, and could post product reviews similar to Amazon.

In 2013, the FBI arrested Mr. Ulbricht in a San Francisco library and accused him of running Silk Road. In court, prosecutors presented evidence that Mr. Ulbricht also incited the killings of people he viewed as a threat to the company, even though he was never tried on murder-for-hire charges and It wasn’t there An indication that any killings have occurred.

Prosecutors said in court that at least six deaths were attributed to drugs purchased on the Silk Road. A federal judge in the Southern District of New York, where the case was heard, described Mr. Ulbricht as “the leader of a global digital drug trafficking enterprise” whose actions were “terribly destructive to our social fabric.” In 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison for drug distribution, money laundering and other charges, and was eventually transferred to a federal prison in Arizona.

Punishment Hit some legal experts Cruel. It also sparked protests from liberals who opposed tough drug penalties and cryptocurrency enthusiasts who viewed Mr. Ulbricht as a pioneer.

Silk Road “brought a million people to Bitcoin,” said David Bailey, chief executive of the news outlet Bitcoin Magazine, who campaigned for Mr. Ulbricht’s release. “He represents many of the ideological views of our community.”

From inside prison, Mr. Ulbricht stressed his connection to Bitcoin. In October 2018, he sent a letter to his mother celebrating the cryptocurrency’s 10th anniversary and likened himself to a “proud parent” in technology.

“I think I am the separated father in prison who cannot be there to help raise his child,” he wrote in the letter, which was later published. Published by Bitcoin Magazine.

On social media accounts maintained by his family, Mr Ulbricht also shared artwork, updates about prison gardening and his thoughts on new techniques. The accounts posted links to online petitions calling for clemency. Labeling Mr. Trump and members of the Trump family.

Behind the scenes, Ms. Ulbricht has been promoting the “Free Ross” slogan, which has become a rallying cry at cryptocurrency conferences. She also reached out to Republican politicians and far-right influencers, hoping to reach Mr. Trump’s inner circle.

After losing the 2020 election, Mr. Trump I thought about releasing Mr. UlbrichtAnd at least A lobbyist was paid $22,500 To help secure his release, according to financial forms. But Mr. Trump left office without taking any action.

“The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and our hopes were high for a commutation of the sentence,” Mr. Ulbricht’s family said. to publish On social media in January 2021.

The new Republican presidential campaign presented a new opportunity.

In 2023, Ms. Ulbricht renewed her outreach to influential Republicans, including… Vivek Ramaswamywho was running for president, two people close to her said. Mr. Ramaswamy, who did not respond to a request for comment, pledged to release Mr. Ulbricht if he is elected and Speak frankly About meeting his mother.

Then in late 2023, Ms. McArdle was contacted by Mr. Grenell, who on Mr. Trump’s behalf asked for advice on courting the liberal vote. She was soon on a plane to Florida to meet with Mr. Trump.

At the meeting, Ms. McArdle told Mr. Trump that Mr. Ulbricht was the victim of prosecutorial overreach and a biased criminal justice system, echoing complaints the former president has made since leaving office.

“It’s the same court stuff in New York that was giving you a hard time,” she told him.

Last year, Mr. Trump and his staff also met with Mr. Bailey and other representatives of Bitcoin Magazine, who lobbied for Mr. Ulbricht’s release. Tracy Hoyos Lopez, who worked at the magazine He said It is publicly reported that the introduction was arranged by Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016. (Ms. Hoyos Lopez is the daughter of Hector Hoyos, a friend and former business partner of Mr. Manafort.)

On social media, Mr. Bailey Announce He plans to raise a “$100 million war chest for the Trump campaign.” He also went to Mar-a-Lago in June, where he presented Mr. Trump with a letter from Lynn Ulbricht, he said in an interview.

By then, Mr. Trump had already pledged to release Mr. Ulbricht at the Libertarian Party convention. he Doubled He made that pledge in July at a conference in Nashville organized by Bitcoin Magazine, saying he would commute Mr. Ulbricht’s sentence — allowing him to walk free, but without erasing the conviction. Around that time, Mr. Trump also met privately with Ms. Ulbricht, said Ms. McArdle, who was briefed on the meeting.

She confronted Mrs. McArdle Negative reaction from other liberals for her dealings with Mr. Trump. But she was still in contact with the new administration last week, asking Mr. Trump to grant Mr. Ulbricht a full pardon, not just a commutation. “Promises made, promises kept,” a Trump staffer emailed her, according to a copy of the message seen by The New York Times.

On Tuesday night, Ms. McArdle, Mr. Bailey and Ms. Hoyos Lopez gathered live on X to wait for updates. Mr. Bailey told listeners that Ms. Ulbricht was in Arizona, preparing for her son’s release.

Within hours of the pardon, an X account controlled by Mr Ulbricht’s family posted a photo of him Leave the prison with a small plant and a bag of possessions.

“freedom!!!!” The post said.

Kenneth B. Vogel Contributed to reports. Susan C. Beachy Contributed to research.