zlacker

He was in jail for running a darknet drug marketplace. Hiring a contract killer was a crime he was neither charged with nor convicted of.

>>manner+(OP)
Ulbricht was indicted in federal court in Maryland on a single murder-for-hire charge.

The case was dropped after NY conviction since he was sentencing to life, so there was little point in continuing.

Clearly that was a mistake if a lack of an attempted murder conviction helped him get a pardon.

>>manner+(OP)
The judge factored it into the sentencing, though. He likely did actually try to hire a contract killer - twice. In both cases he sincerely believed the murders were successfully committed, and he sent a lot of money to the assassins after being sent (doctored) "proof" of their killings.

I think it's fair to say judges shouldn't factor non-charged allegations into sentencing, but I think he's at least morally culpable, here, and should at the very least be expected to now show public contrition for repeatedly trying to murder people drug kingpin-style.

I doubt he will ever admit it, but now that he's free I still would like it. I don't care about people enabling drug sales but I do care about people with a God complex who feel entitled to end the lives of those they oppose (in one case because he thought someone stole from him, and another because he thought they would dox him).

>>meowfa+P1
A judge and system who would give him 2 life sentences for this should not be trusted when he also factored in things which he wasn't charged and convicted of.

>>busymo+x7
There are only mandatory minimums -- not mandatory maximums in sentencing.

I feel like me might disagree on Ulbricht, but overall mandatory maximums make a lot of sense.

>>busymo+x7
It is common that several outcomes are subject - with the defendants specific agreement - to be evaluated by a court on preponderance, not a jury. This was not judicial malpractice.

>>Aloisi+i1
What would give you a hint that attempted murder conviction would prevent his pardon? Trump pardoned over a thousand attempted murdered already this week.

>>FireBe+8b
I am sorry but there's no way giving him more than 2 life sentences has any justification whatsoever. Even the people who actually sold drugs on his site got out in 2 years. And the person who hired someone for hitman also only got 6 years. This is exactly the type of case where pardon makes 100% sense.

Ps. El Chapo got shorter sentence than Ross.

>>busymo+Ce
> Ps. El Chapo got shorter sentence than Ross.

They both had greater-than-life sentences, which in practice is the same thing.

>>busymo+Ce
> Even the people who actually sold drugs on his site got out in 2 years.

And Ross made millions from those people selling drugs on his site. Quite possibly more than any person selling drugs on his site.

And attempted to hire hitmen to prevent anyone stopping it. Not even as a potential "crime of passion", but solely to protect his money train.

And there's this whole false narrative of "youthful indiscretions". He didn't start building the site til he was 28 and was mostly running it in his early 30s.