US President Donald Trump said he had signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who ran Silk Road, a dark web marketplace where illegal drugs were sold.
In 2015, Ulbricht was convicted of drug and money laundering conspiracy in New York and sentenced to life in prison.
Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had called Ulbricht’s mother to inform her that he had pardoned her son.
Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht, sold illegal drugs using Bitcoin, as well as hacking equipment and stolen passports.
“The scum who worked to impeach him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern weaponization of the government against me,” Trump said in an online post Tuesday night. “He got two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”
Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including drug trafficking conspiracy, money laundering and computer hacking.
During his trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht’s website, hosted on the hidden “dark web”, anonymously sold more than $200 million (£131 million) worth of drugs.
He ran Silk Road under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, a reference to the character in the 1987 film The Princess Bride.
Prosecutors said he also sought six murders for hire, including one against a former Silk Road employee, though they said there was no evidence any murders were actually carried out.
The Silk Road got its name from the historical trade routes that crossed Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.
The site gained notoriety through media reports and internet chatter. But users could only access the site through Tor – a system that allows people to use the web without revealing who they are or what country they are in.
FBI court documents say the site has just under a million registered users, but investigators say they don’t know how many are active.
Sentencing Ulbricht – who has two university degrees – District Judge Katherine Forrest said he was “no better a person than any other drug dealer”.
She said the place was his “carefully planned life’s work”.
The judge noted that the long sentence also acted as a message to copycats that there would be “very serious consequences”.
“I wanted to empower people to make decisions in their lives and to have privacy and anonymity,” Ulbricht said at his sentencing in May 2015.
Trump previously hinted that he planned to commute Ulbricht’s sentence during a speech at the Libertarian National Convention last year.
The Libertarian Party advocated for Ulbricht’s release and said his case was an example of government overreach.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a Trump ally, welcomed the president’s decision.
“Thank you for keeping your word to me and others who stood up for Ross’ freedom,” the Kentucky lawmaker said.
