![President Donald Trump followed through on another campaign promise Tuesday, Jan. 21, when he pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.](https://straightarrownews-preprod.go-vip.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/CLEAN-Ross-Ulbricht-Pardon_Reuters_featuredImage_Tue-Jan-21-2025-1.jpg?w=1920)
Lauren Taylor:
On his second day in office, President Donald Trump got to another of his “day one” promises, pardoning Ross Ulbricht, founder and operator of the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
The 40-year-old Ulbricht was serving two life sentences plus 40 years without parole for his ties to the site. In his 2015 conviction, the court held Ulbricht liable for $183 million in sales of illegal drugs and counterfeit IDs that occurred on his site.
Drugs available on the site included heroin, cocaine and opioids.
Silk Road was an early adopter of Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency advocates, as well as libertarian political voices including Sen. Rand Paul, have been vocal in pushing for a pardon for Ulbricht.
Paul wrote a letter to President Trump asking him to pardon Silk Road’s creator Ross Ulbricht.
“Our criminal justice system should protect society from violent lawbreakers instead of filling our prisons with nonviolent offenders like Mr. Ulbricht,” Paul wrote.
President Trump is all of one day late to the promise he made when speaking to the Libertarian National Convention last May.
TRUMP: If you vote for me, on day one, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served.
President Trump has been on a major pardoning spree since taking office Monday. Hours after taking office, he also pardoned more than 1,500 people charged for their roles in the January 6th insurrection.