After his release from jail, the Silk Road founder thanked the US President for the ‘amazing blessing’ in a video message.
Ross Albrecht, the founder of the dark web marketplace pardoned by United States President Donald Trump, has spoken for the first time about his release from prison.
Albrecht, 40, was sentenced in 2015 to two life sentences for running Silk Road, an illegal online marketplace that U.S. prosecutors said used bitcoin to make $183 million in drug sales. The facility was provided.
Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to Albrecht on Tuesday, fulfilling a campaign promise to libertarians and cryptocurrency enthusiasts who had lobbied for his release.
In a video message posted on X on Friday, Albrecht thanked Trump for sponsoring him.
“I was on life without parole, and I was locked up for over 11 years but he let me out. I’m a free man now. So know that Donald Trump is a man of his word.
“President Trump, thank you so much for giving me this amazing blessing. I’m so, so grateful to get my life back, to get my future back, to get a second chance.
Albrecht said he plans to spend time with his family but will have more to say in the future.
“It’s a victory and it’s your victory too. And it’s an important moment for everyone, everywhere who loves freedom and who cares about other possibilities,” he said.
“Being free feels amazing, to say the least. This is awesome.
— Ross Albrecht (@relrosso) January 24, 2025
Albrecht’s case was held up as an example of government capitulation by libertarians and crypto supporters, who argued that they had been unfairly prosecuted for other people’s transactions and that The punishment is not worthy of this crime.
Albrecht’s attorneys also argued that although he created the site, he relinquished control to others after just a few months and returned to being a fall boy just as authorities were closing in. were
In announcing the pardon, Trump called Albrecht’s conviction “ridiculous” and said some of the people responsible for prosecuting him were “the same lunatics who were involved in the government’s modern weapons against me”.
U.S. prosecutors cast Albrecht as a criminal mastermind driven by a desire for money and power, alleging that his Drugs sold on the site have killed six people.
Prosecutors also alleged that Albrecht solicited the murders of people he threatened for his operation, although he had not been convicted of any such crime and presented no evidence that he did so. No one has really been killed.
While some Republicans applauded Trump’s pardon for supporting libertarian views, the move drew a number of Democratic lawmakers. Condemned by the makers.
“Pardoning drug-trafficking kingpins is a slap in the face to families who have lost loved ones to their crimes,” Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto said in a post on X.
“Donald Trump should explain to them how any of this makes America safer. This is outrage.
