Who exactly is Ross Ulbricht? Is he a cybercriminal or a hero of the free market? A borderline psychopath or a pretty good dude? A calculating mastermind or a floppy-haired Bay Area kid? And finally: is he guilty or innocent?
“Ross Ulbricht’s fate now lies with a jury.”
These are the questions a jury is mulling over now that both the prosecution and defense in the case against him have rested. The trial began on January 13, but it has been building for long before that. And every step of the way, it’s been dramatic. Case in point: October 13, 2013, when FBI agents descended on a public library in San Francisco. There, in the science fiction section, they found a young man with wavy brown hair working on his laptop. Yet it was this unassuming-looking man that authorities suspected of running a massive online shop for guns and drugs. The site, called Silk Road, was a massive black market hub where people could go to buy drugs like heroin and LSD, all kinds of illegal tablets, and automatic weapons. The site went live in 2011 and was shut down by the FBI when Ulbricht was arrested. If convicted, Ulbricht could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Was Ulbricht Behind Silk Road?
When Silk Road was operational, it served as a major hub for drug purchases and other illicit activities. This was due to several key factors. First, the site was safe, or as safe as you can get when you’re buying drugs. That’s because Silk Road dealt in bitcoins, a digital currency that’s very hard to trace. And when merchandise was mailed to recipients, it was done in a very careful, detail-oriented manner. Consider this testimonial from a self-described buyer: ”I ordered LSD tabs from the seller ‘psynom’ on Silk Road on Sunday …They were shipped in a regular envelope, quite innocent looking. Inside was a hardcover greeting card, inside which the tabs were taped in plastic.”
Basically, Silk Road was not a site run by amateurs. But was it run by Ulbricht?
Is Ross Ulbricht the criminal mastermind behind Silk Road?
Ulbricht is young, athletic and handsome. He bears more than a passing resemblance to Robert Pattinson, as various publications have been quick to point out. When you imagine the typical hacker – or, more accurately, when you look at the composite face of the hacker – Ulbricht is not the one who comes to mind for many. Did he really run a drugs and guns empire under the fearsome alias Dread Pirate Roberts?
A New York Times profile of Ulbricht describes his childhood as a happy time filled with outdoor activities and meaningful conversation. Ulbricht was reportedly intellectually curious, kind, and in touch with his feelings. But he was also a drug user, and when he got high he’d take it far. But did he take it as far as the Silk Road? Here is what the United States’ criminal complaint against Ulbricht alleges: “From in or about January 2011, up to and including in or about September 2013, Ross William Ulbricht a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road” … owned and operated an underground website, known as “Silk Road,” that provided a platform for drug dealers around the world to sell a wide variety of controlled substances via the Internet.”
“The prosecution painted a picture of Ulbricht as a drug lord willing to protect himself and his empire by any means necessary.”
Unfortunately for Ulbricht, that’s not where the allegations end. Based on the FBI’s investigation, the criminal complaint also alleges that Ulbricht attempted to arrange for the murder of a Silk Road user who it was feared would release privileged information about the network.
The Case Plays Out In Court
Throughout Ulbricht’s trial, the prosecution painted a picture of him as a drug lord willing to protect himself and his empire by any means necessary – including potential violence. To back up that claim, prosecutors produced a transcript of a particularly disturbing text conversation that reportedly took place within the Silk Road user forum. The chat occurred between two users: “Redandwhite” and “Dread Pirate Roberts” (Ulbricht, according to the prosecution’s case). The chat begins with “Redandwhite” describing a user named “FriendlyChemist” who has apparently threatening to leak Silk Road user data if DPR doesn’t pay him the $700,000 he says he’s owed. From there, the conversation quickly escalates to DPR calling “FriendlyChemist” a “liability” and stating “I wouldn’t mind if he was executed,” before providing details as to “FriendlyChemist’s” true identity. The discussion then progresses to detailing how the murder will take place (“Redandwhite”: “We lose more than 15% doing it on the streets with street level guys”). Finally, the murder apparently happens – although authorities have been unable to verify it – and DPR, pleased, commissions four more similar killings.
‘The Internet is not what it seems,’ Ulbricht’s lawyer told jurors.
If it was Ulbricht hiding behind the DPR alias, then that conversation is highly incriminating. But Ulbricht’s defense team argued that while Ulbricht was the original creator of Silk Road, he relinquished control of the network to other individuals after launching it. The crux of the defense team’s argument can be summed up by Ulbricht’s defense lawyer Joshua Dratel: “The Internet is not what it seems … You never know who precisely is on the other side of that computer screen.”
This assertion by Dratel illustrates the defense team’s argument that the entire case against Ulbricht rests on extremely shaky ground. Showing screenshots of conversations that took place on Internet forums is one thing. Definitively tying them to one individual is quite another, and leaves room for the possibility of reasonable doubt.
For all the testimony that happened at Ulbricht’s trial, there was one that was conspicuously absent: Ulricht’s own. What jurors are left with, therefore, are either mountains of incriminating evidence (according to the prosecution) or a whole bunch of inconclusive nonsense (the defense’s argument). Now justice, as it always does, lies with the people who heard the case.
Update: WIRED and other publications reported that Ulbricht has been found guilty of all charges against him.
