Ross Ulbricht’s Prison Letter Sparks Tears After Trump Pardon

Kentucky Congressional Representative Thomas Massie went on Tim Pool’s Timcast IRL podcast to share a letter written to him from now-pardoned Ross Ulbricht that moved him to tears.

While reading the letter—which was written while the Silk Road website operator was in prison—to Pool’s cohosts Ian Crossland and Josie Glabach, Glabach also started to cry.

Why It Matters

During his first day in office, President Donald Trump pardoned Capitol rioters and Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison.

Prior to his pardon, Ross was also a convicted drug dealer. Pardoning him counters Trump’s previous assertions that drug dealers should face capital punishment.

What To Know

Prior to his Trump pardon, Ulbricht had been sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional 40 years for creating and running Silk Road.

This was a dark web website which, per the Department of Justice, facilitated the distribution of “hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services to more than 100,000 buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions.” Silk Road was also linked to six overdose deaths around the world from drugs bought on the site.

Ulbricht gained a significant following in Libertarian circles from people who believed he was the target of government overreach. Several petitions to have him released were circulated while he was in prison, including one which amassed over 600,000 signatures.

In his Truth Social announcement about Ulbricht’s pardoning, President Trump said he made this action to honor “the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly.”

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