Silk Road

Silk Road mastermind to appeal his case

Life
The Silk Road was an online marketplace where drugs were sold freely Image: IDG

8 June 2015

Facing life in prison, Ross Ulbricht is appealing his seven convictions for operating Silk Road, the illegal drugs online marketplace.

Ulbricht’s lawyer, Joshua Dratel, however, has not decided yet what issues the appeal will be based on.

Last week, Judge Katherine Forrest, who oversaw the jury case at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, gave Ulbricht two concurrent life sentences for aiding and abetting drug distribution, and for running a criminal enterprise. He also got additional prison time for computer hacking (five years), identification forgery (15 years) and money laundering (20 years), all to run concurrently.

Dratel is appealing both the conviction, as well as a forfeiture ruling that states Ulbricht owes the government over $183 million, based on Silk Road profits.

Federal prosecutors estimated that between 2011 and 2013, Silk Road facilitated over $1 billion in drug sales worldwide, along with other unlawful activities such as money laundering and the sales of computer hacking tools and fake identification forms.

The case will be heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and its ruling, except under special circumstance, will be final.

IDG News Service

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