In December 2023, Libertarian Party leader Angela McArdle traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Trump wanted to know how to win over libertarian voters, a constituency he believed could help him reclaim the presidency, Ms. McCardle said in an interview. The answer was: Free Ross Albrecht, the Bitcoin pioneer who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for creating Silk Road, the world’s largest online drug marketplace. Mr. Albrecht was considered a libertarian hero for creating an illegal market beyond the government’s reach.
“I like to set people free,” Mr. Trump said, according to Mrs. McArdle. Five months later, he hosted her at the Libertarian Party’s national convention, where she announced on stage that, if elected to the presidency, she would release Mr. Albrecht.
On Tuesday, the day after his inauguration, Mr. Trump made good on that promise. He personally called Lynn Albrecht, Mr. Albrecht’s mother, to tell her he had granted her son, now 40, a full pardon. Post At Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the decision was “in honor of him and the libertarian movement, which has supported me strongly.”
Mr. Albrecht’s pardon was not a clear agenda item for Mr. Trump. Unlike the roughly 1,600 people who received pardons or commutations this week for their involvement in the Jan. 6 riots, Mr. Albrecht had little direct contact with the president. But the move was long in the works, after more than a decade of activism by Mr. Albrecht’s supporters — including cryptocurrency investors, libertarian politicians and, most notably, Ms. Albrecht, who campaigned for her son’s release. had been
Many of them have had extraordinary access to Mr. Trump. As it became clear last year that Mr Trump would be the Republican nominee, he waged a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to secure a pardon – including a promise to raise money for his re-election bid – which was a has turned into a case study. How a special interest group can mobilize to influence the president.
Ms. McCardle said she was approached by one of Mr. Trump’s longtime advisers, Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence, who suggested that she treat the conversation with Mr. Trump like a business negotiation. .
“Rick was like, ‘That’s the deal, Angela,'” she said. “Don’t be afraid to ask for something.”
Mr. Grenell, Ms. Albrecht and the Trump administration did not respond to requests for comment.
Dan Richman, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Columbia Law School, said Mr. Albrecht’s pardon showed that “if you have a certain core of people around Trump, you have a very good chance of a pardon. ” “There are problems with an amnesty system that works this way.”
Mr. Albrecht launched Silk Road in 2011 and turned it into one of the most famous outposts of the so-called dark web, a hidden corner of the Internet that people can only access through a special browser. are Authorities have said Silk Road facilitated more than 1.5 million transactions, generating more than $200 million in sales of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs. Users can anonymously transact with Bitcoin, a new cryptocurrency, and post Amazon-style product ratings.
In 2013, the FBI arrested Mr. Albrecht at a San Francisco library and charged him with running Silk Road. In court, prosecutors presented evidence that Mr. Albrecht also solicited the murders of people he considered a threat to the business, although he was never tried on murder-for-hire charges. There wasn’t This indicates that there has been a murder.
Prosecutors told the court that at least six deaths were caused by drugs bought on the Silk Road. A federal judge in the Southern District of New York, where the case was tried, called Mr. Albrecht “the kingpin of a global digital drug-trafficking organization” whose actions were “extremely destructive to our social fabric.” In 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison for drug distribution, money laundering and other charges, and was eventually transferred to a federal prison in Arizona.
Punishment Hit some legal experts as strict. He also drew protests from libertarians who opposed tougher drug sentences and crypto enthusiasts who saw Mr. Albrecht as a pioneer.
Silk Road “got a million people into bitcoin,” said David Bailey, chief executive of the news publication Bitcoin Magazine, who campaigned for Mr. Albrecht’s release. “He represents many of the ideals of our community.”
From prison, Mr. Albrecht established his connection to Bitcoin. In October 2018, he sent a letter to his mother celebrating the 10th anniversary of the creation of the cryptocurrency and likened himself to a “proud parent” of the technology.
“I feel like an estranged father in prison, who can’t be there to help raise my child,” he wrote in the letter, which was later Published by Bitcoin Magazine.
On his family-run social media accounts, Mr Albrecht also shares artwork, updates on his prison gardening and thoughts on new technologies. The accounts posted links to online petitions demanding an apology. Tagging Mr. Trump and members of the Trump family.
Behind the scenes, Ms. Albrecht worked to popularize the “Free Ross” slogan, a rallying cry at crypto conferences. He also reached out to Republican politicians and far-right influencers in hopes of reaching Mr. Trump’s inner circle.
After losing the 2020 election, Mr. Trump Consideration was given to freeing Mr. Albrecht.and at least one lobbyist was paid $22,500 to help secure his release, according to financial filings. But Mr. Trump left office without action.
“The higher the hope, the higher the disappointment, and our hopes were sky high for a commutation of the sentence,” Mr. Albrecht’s family said. Posted on social media in January 2021.
The new Republican presidential campaign presented a new opportunity.
In 2023, Ms. Albrecht renewed her push to connect with influential Republicans, including Vivek Ramaswamy, who was running for president, two people close to her said. Mr. Ramaswamy, who did not respond to a request for comment, pledged to free Mr. Albrecht if elected and Said openly About meeting your mother
Then in late 2023, Ms McArdle was approached by Mr Grinnell, who sought advice on Mr Trump’s libertarian vote. Soon she was on a plane to Florida to meet with Mr. Trump.
At the meeting, Ms. McArdle told Mr. Trump that Mr. Albrecht was the victim of prosecutorial overreach and a biased criminal justice system, echoing complaints made by the former president after he left office.
“It’s the same court stuff in New York that’s giving you a hard time,” she said he told her.
Last year, Mr. Trump and his staff also met with Mr. Bailey and other representatives of Bitcoin Magazine, who pushed for Mr. Albrecht’s release. Tracy Hoyos-Lopez, who worked for the magazine. said The introduction was publicly said to have been arranged by Mr Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in 2016. (Ms Hoyos-Lopez is the daughter of Hector Hoyos, a friend and former business partner of Mr Manafort.)
Mr. Bailey on social media. announced That he planned to raise $100 million in war money for the Trump campaign. He also went to Mar-a-Lago in June, he said in an interview, where he presented Mr. Trump with a letter from Lynn Albrecht.
By then, Mr. Trump had already pledged to free Mr. Albrecht at the Libertarian Party convention. He Double down At a July conference hosted by Bitcoin Magazine in Nashville, the pledge said it would commute Mr. Albrecht’s sentence — allowing him to walk free, but without erasing the sentence. Mr. Trump also met privately with Ms. Albrecht during that time, said Ms. McCardle, who was briefed on the meeting.
Ms. McArdle has faced Blowback From other libertarians for his dealings with Mr. Trump. But she was still in touch with the new administration last week, requesting that Mr. Trump grant Mr. Albrecht a full pardon, not just a commutation. “Promises made, promises kept,” a Trump staffer emailed him, according to a copy of the message seen by The New York Times.
On Tuesday night, Ms. McArdle, Mr. Bailey and Ms. Hoyos-López gathered in a live stream on X to await updates. Ms. Albrecht is in Arizona, preparing for her son’s release, Mr. Bailey told the audience.
Within hours of the apology, an account on X controlled by Mr Albrecht’s family posted a picture of him Breaking out of prison with a small plant and a sack of supplies.
“FREEDOM!!!!” said the post. News Plus Globe
Kenneth P. Vogel Cooperation reporting. Susan C. Beachy. participated in the research.
