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May 24, 2015

"Before sentencing, Ulbricht begs for leniency: 'please leave me my old age'"

This new ars technica posting provides the title of this post and it provides background and links to a high-energy effort by a high-profile defendant to get a lower sentence for his high-tech drug dealing crimes for which he will be sentenced in the coming week.  Here are excerpts:

Convicted Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and no less than 97 of his friends and family members have written to a judge just days prior to sentencing, asking her to impose the most lenient sentence possible. (Ars has posted the letters online along with the court filing of photos of Ulbricht and many family and friends.)

 Under federal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, Ulbricht faces at least 20 years in prison and possibly as long as life behind bars.  “Silk Road turned out to be a very naive and costly idea that I deeply regret,” he wrote in his own 1.5 page letter to United States District Judge Katherine Forrest filed on Friday.

Ulbricht’s own letter marks the first time he has shown any public remorse during the entire saga, during which he did not testify. His attorney, Joshua Dratel, spun unsubstantiated theories that while Ulbricht created Silk Road, unnamed mysterious others took over the site and should be the ones prosecuted for the crime. Dratel previously vowed to appeal the verdict.

In February 2015, Ulbricht was convicted of seven charges including three drug counts: distributing or aiding and abetting the distribution of narcotics, distributing narcotics or aiding and abetting distribution over the Internet, and conspiracy to violate narcotics laws. He was also convicted on a fourth count of conspiracy to run a "continuing criminal enterprise," which involves supervising at least five other people in an organization. In addition, Ulbricht was convicted on conspiracy charges for computer hacking, distributing false identification, and money laundering.

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May 24, 2015 at 01:50 PM | Permalink

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Comments

The guy is 30. What the heck is he talking about?

It's this sort of guy who deserves long term time. There was also some discussion in the coverage that his acts was related to life and limb. Not just selling drugs to willing buys and all of that for libertarians out there.

But, old age? His 50s?

Posted by: Joe | May 24, 2015 5:13:14 PM

Here is a better mitigating factor. Where is the idiotic defense? Thirty seconds of internet searching.

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/silk-road-study/

On the other hand, I have to retract my comment elsewhere about the immunity of a common carrier.

Contracts to assassinate went out, not a mere common carrier.

http://www.dailydot.com/news/dread-pirate-roberts-silk-road-second-murder-plot/

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | May 24, 2015 11:45:48 PM

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