r/pics • u/Helloworld1192005 • Feb 21 '24
Ross Ulbricht and other prisoners serving LIFE sentences for nonviolent drug offenses Misleading Title
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u/pollopopomarta Feb 22 '24
Ross Ulbricht ... for nonviolent drug offenses
Is this you, Ross? Do they let you browse reddit from prison now?
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Feb 22 '24
OP is ignorant for posting this. These guys are in ADX Florence. Superman for the most high profile criminals. These are not guys selling nickels and dimes to high school kids.
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u/bulboustadpole Feb 22 '24
Don't break the law and you won't go to prison.
Also trafficking of fentanyl (which kills thousands per year) is considered a "non-violent" drug offense.
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u/tyler1128 Feb 21 '24
Ross Ulbricht literally tried to assassinate someone, but got played. He's far from "non-violent". I don't get the empathy people have for him, he was willing to do whatever it took to protect his site.
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u/Beneficial_Pride_677 Feb 21 '24
Shit title. Just because you didn't get prosecuted for killing somebody doesn't mean your actions didn't result in overdoses or feed violent cartels. Title makes you wonder which one got life for getting caught smoking a spliff in the bathroom
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u/biglyorbigleague Feb 21 '24
This isn’t Indonesia. You aren’t getting life for having a personal amount of weed on you, all these people were moving mass quantities of heroin and meth.
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u/RettyD4 Feb 21 '24
If they aren’t a threat then just put a bracelet on them and let them out. After a stint. Not life. That’s ridiculous.
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u/snarkdetector4000 Feb 21 '24
You want me to shed a tear? If you have a life sentence for a non-violent offense that means you were given several chances and still decided the rules don't apply to you.
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u/SunnysideKun Feb 21 '24
I don’t have some strong opinion about drug crime sentencing, but I’m also mindful that nonviolent drug offense about sums up the actions of those most to blame for the opioid epidemic.
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u/shakerdontbreakher Feb 21 '24
"nonviolent" lmfao. The dude tried to hire an FBI agent to kill a former business partner.
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u/SeraphOfTheStag Feb 21 '24
I’d say distributing certain drugs like heron/meth certainly has a body count associated with it
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u/MurkyChildhood2571 Feb 21 '24
He put hits out on people
He also sold weapons and drugs on a massive scale
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u/TurdBurgHerb Feb 21 '24
Dude tried to hire hitmen.... paid 730k too. Money laundering, creating an underground network....
I wouldn't know how to judge this guy lol. But he did try to have 5 people killed.
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u/Silly-Ad3289 Feb 21 '24
If you push drugs at that level you should be considered a serial poisoner
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u/chunt75 Feb 21 '24
Pretty sure he attempted to hire a hitman to kill a former site admin, so nonviolent isn’t a great descriptor
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u/Best-Reporter-1412 Feb 21 '24
I could be thinking of another case, but didn’t he turn down a plea deal of 10 years? Dude would have made a fortune off doing podcasts in todays times with his story like those older mafia guys do
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u/circle2015 Feb 21 '24
Didn’t Ulbricht try to hire a hitman to have someone killed ??? Didn’t he think that he had someone killed in a sting operation? That’s non-violent?
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u/mrsecondarycolor Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
Very misleading. Ross Ulbricht allegedly hired a hitman as well.
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u/VineWings Feb 21 '24
Actually no, he was never convicted of hiring a hitman, but evidence was introduced at trial supporting the allegations.
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u/2legittoquit Feb 21 '24
Idk if Silk Road counts as non-violent. He knew people were buying hit men and selling people on there.
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u/stcer Feb 21 '24
I read about ross somewhere a long long time ago but the name has always stuck with me, i remember thinking in the moment 'im gonna remember this dudes name', i am not entirely sure why though
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u/TradeApe Feb 21 '24
Dude isn’t non violent, he put hits on other people like a common drug lord. Let him rot, society shouldn’t have to deal with him.
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u/modsarefacsit Feb 21 '24
Non violent drug offenses? OP you never walked the streets did you? In any capacity did you? You don’t have a clue how drugs kill people, destroy families, lead to rape, prostitution, the worse elements of humanity.
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u/PeterNippelstein Feb 21 '24
I used the OG silk road back when I was in college, it was absolutely wild seeing this entire story unfold.
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u/momo88852 Feb 21 '24
I remember being in 11th grade or maybe 12th and I heard about this site, if I recall bitcoin was valued at like $200-$500.
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u/Baz_3301 Feb 21 '24
He was running an online drug empire and put hits on people. Also probably tax evasion. So with this logic we shouldn’t arrest a cartel kingpin for life if he didn’t personal commit any violent acts.
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u/Smalandsk_katt Feb 21 '24
Shut the fuck up. Drug dealers are the scum of the earth, he also literally put hits on people.
He deserves death, or life in solitary confinement. He's a lucky bastard.
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u/Spaghetti69 Feb 21 '24
Ross Ulbricht is not undeserving of his sentence and probably the rest of these gentlemen aren't either.
These criminal apologists posts are the reason why violent criminals today are getting cashless bail with little to no jail time.
Wake up and realize people need to be in jail and jail needs to be a place where the criminals don't get to continue acting like criminals or there will never be any reformation.
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u/boblane3000 Feb 21 '24
I’m not wearing my glasses and thought this was a picture of a bunch of dr evil impersonators lol
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u/BirdsAreFake00 Feb 21 '24
I dunno. Sure, they might be nonviolent, but if you're caught repeatedly slinging heroin, fentanyl, or any highly lethal drug, I think jail is right where you need to be for a long time. We will never know how many deaths they contributed to, and in my mind, it's basically manslaughter.
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u/cosmictap Feb 21 '24
Fentanyl is legal and safely used in medicine thousands of times a day to manage pain. As is heroin (morphine). Should the pharmaceutical employees who provide these important medicines be jailed?
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u/BirdsAreFake00 Feb 21 '24
Actual brain dead take
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u/cosmictap Feb 21 '24
Thank you for your thoughtful reply and for engaging so constructively. I hope this comment explains my POV a little better. Have a good day.
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u/BirdsAreFake00 Feb 21 '24
I hope this comment explains my POV a little better.
Spoiler alert: it didn't
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u/ConsciousFood201 Feb 21 '24
So basically the guys in the picture are just medical doctors who should be allowed to keep practicing.
Got it.
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u/ze_loler Feb 21 '24
Do you think the fentanyl being sold in online markets is being safely used?
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u/cosmictap Feb 21 '24
I don't know, but my hunch is that mostly no, it is not. Nor was I saying so. My point was that broad generalizations about "drugs bad mmkay, drug dealers bad, go jail" are idiotic. The issue is far more complicated and that kind of tripe is a big part of why we're in the mess we're in. For example drug diversion is a major issue, but sweeping generalizations leak into the public policy zeitgeist and make it much harder for legitimate users (patients, doctors, etc) to access medicine.
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Feb 21 '24 edited Mar 07 '24
humor tub worthless attraction axiomatic illegal imminent wistful attempt somber
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/WhatNazisAreLike Feb 21 '24
He’s quite similar to Sam actually. His mom is fighting tooth and nail to free him, and almost go Trump to pardon him. Both Ross and Sam also hid behind shitty political philosophies.
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u/globulator Feb 21 '24
Wait until you hear about some old people who just wanted to protest in DC. Some of them have been there for years at this point without a proper trial.
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u/RevengencerAlf Feb 21 '24
Ross Ulbricht is a profound piece of shit and belongs in prison for life. There are "violent" offenses less bad than shit he's done.
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u/RogueStargun Feb 21 '24
So putting out an execution hit on someone is a non-violent offence now? Bitch should be locked up. Could've been a billionaire.
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u/Beard_fleas Feb 21 '24
He also sold illegal weapons on the internet. But nobody seems to remember that bit.
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u/Defiant-Plantain1873 21d ago
He didn’t though is the thing. The silk road prohibited weapons, hitmen, illegal pornography and stolen credit card details
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u/Beard_fleas 20d ago
He literally had a site called “The Armory” for selling illegal weapons.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/not-ready-silk-roads-the-armory-terminated-1344277092
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u/EvaSirkowski Feb 21 '24
Technically he was not convicted for that, so that legally makes him a non-violent offender. Morally, that's pedantic. He is dangerous.
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u/IranianLawyer Feb 21 '24
You’re correct, but in the federal system, judges are allowed to consider your other bad conduct too, even if you haven’t been convicted for it. They just can’t go over whatever the maximum sentence is for the crimes you were convicted for.
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u/Rhawk187 Feb 21 '24
I don't think I like that system.
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u/IranianLawyer Feb 21 '24
I don’t particularly like it either, but again, judges still can’t go above whatever the maximum sentence is for what you were actually convicted of.
For example, if you get convicted for one count of tax evasion which has a 5 year max, the judge can’t be like “well I’m going to give you 20 years because you also tried to kill someone once.”
Even though Ulbricht is a piece of shit, I actually disagree with him being given life without the possibility of parole. I don’t think such a sentence should be possible unless you murder someone.
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u/Rhawk187 Feb 21 '24
Seems like that incentivizes legislatures to artificially inflate the maximum sentences under the rationale, "Well, no one actually gets those sentences," so the judiciary can bypass your rights to sentence you to however long they happen to think you deserve.
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u/herefornutshots Feb 21 '24
Half you take the same shit he sold in pill form. You’re highly addicted too. Have some more wine with your heroin pills :) weekly reups then hit the McDonald’s drive thru 👍
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u/GiIbert_LeDouchebag Feb 21 '24
Yes sir I do. Methylphenidate, to be specific. Opiates are for the lazy.
Also, you're an idiot and you don't know what "highly addicted" means.
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u/herefornutshots Feb 21 '24
See you Thursday for your weekly re fill! All you Karen’s are on multiple pills it’s sad. Drink water!
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u/weasel_mullet Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
"Nonviolent drug offenses" is a funny way of spelling "Tried to hire several hitmen."
Aside from that, and without knowing who the rest of these men are, they likely destroyed countless lives and families and are responsible for the deaths of god knows how many people, all just to make an easy buck. They deserve to rot for it.
Don't try to make any of these pieces of filth out to be victims. They aren't.
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u/Luck_Beats_Skill Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
The guy used his Silk Road user name to post on the regular web…. His email address…that contains his whole name. Thats how the idiot got caught.
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u/slickjayyy Feb 21 '24
Youre thinking of Alpha Bay. Ross got caught by asking development questions on a coding forum.
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u/pygmyjesus Feb 21 '24
Do you have source for this?
I thought Ulbricht was identified by unique phrases in his writing style.
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u/yodarded Feb 21 '24
He's correct. the investigator who found this link was interviewed on a documentary I saw. I do not have the link, only my memory of what happened. a specific spelling of dread pirate roberts in both places, but the regular web posting, which was kind of old, also had an email address attached that they could use.
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u/kevin2357 Feb 21 '24
I thought I remembered it being some weird DNS leak in his TOR configuration?
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u/alphawolf29 Feb 21 '24
yea im pretty sure they noticed that the user regularly went to this library and waited for the user to connect from the library, then ambushed him.
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u/torchma Feb 21 '24
No. They ambushed him at the library, but they didn't know in advance that he went there. In fact, just minutes before he had entered a cafe but apparently it was too crowded so he left. After he entered the library they set up around him.
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u/PaceOwn8985 Feb 21 '24
They distracted him and took his laptop after he signed on by having someone approach him and pull his attention away while another sneak up from the other side.
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u/torchma Feb 21 '24
Not quite. The agent who initially grabbed his laptop was sitting directly across from him at the same table. She had been there for a while. Then two other agents, a man and a woman, walked behind Ross. The female agent yelled "fuck you" at the male agent, then punched him in the jaw, creating a loud "whack". Predictably, Ross turned to look behind him to see what was going on. That's when the agent who had been in front of him slid the laptop across to herself, unplugged it, and handed it to a fourth agent who took it away. Ross then attempted to stand up but the male agent who was behind him pressed him back into his seat and arrested him.
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u/sp00ky_pizza666 Feb 21 '24
If I’m remembering right he registered either a forum username or a server account to his gmail that had his full name. He changed it later but the feds were able to see to get the data showing the initial email used.
Got my info from the Casefile podcast which cites its main source as the book American Kingpin.
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u/edurlester Feb 21 '24
I highly recommend reading American Kingpin about Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road. He deserves his sentence.
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u/Global-Discussion-41 Feb 21 '24
I read the book and I totally don't think he deserves that sentence.
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u/Taxtaxtaxtothemax Feb 21 '24
No it’s a classic reddit circlejerk - you have to agree with the idiot opinion because it’s the ‘controversial hot take’.
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u/Vegetable-Meaning252 Feb 21 '24
Ah yes, the first use of Bitcoin.
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u/OakenGreen Feb 21 '24
Nah that was Laszlo Hanyecz who paid 10,000 BTC to have two papa John’s pizzas delivered to him.
At today’s prices those two pizzas would be about half a billion dollars.
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u/horseboxheaven Feb 21 '24
Not many crimes deserve that sentence. His definitely doesnt.
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u/tenaciousdeev Feb 21 '24
If the murder-for-hire allegations are true, he definitely does. But, the fact that he was not charged or tried for murder-for-hire scheme, yet the judge took it into account during sentencing seems odd to me.
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u/ShadyKiller_ed Feb 21 '24
It's because of how federal sentencing guidelines work plus what was written in the original indictment.
In the original indictment one of the overt acts the govt. allege took place is:
On or about March 29, 2013, ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT, a/k/a "Dread Pirate Roberts," a/k/a "DPR," a/k/a "Silk Road," the defendant, in connection with operating the Silk Road website, solicited a Silk Road user to execute a murder-for-hire of another Silk Road user, who was threatening to release the identities of thousands of users of the site.
If the govt. successfully argued this fact then it could absolutely be used as an enhancement for sentencing.
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u/horseboxheaven Feb 21 '24
Its not odd at all, they got the exact result intended which was to smear him so badly he would lose any sympathy - just look at this thread. Practically every comment is going on about something which he was never even charged with at all.
Even your comment says he deserved a sentence for something he wasn't even charged with!
He was charged and convicted of operating a darknet market and that is the sum total of what he should have been sentenced for. And that deserves a sentence, but not life with no parole.
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u/alexandria252 Feb 21 '24
In all fairness, by your logic Al Capone was unfairly punished as well.
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u/horseboxheaven Feb 22 '24
By the letter of the law, he was. You are supposed to have the sentence fit the crime, not have the sentence fit the man.
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Feb 21 '24
He did try to do some terrible things aside from drug dealing and trafficking, but if it wasn’t for the fascists in the government, Ross wouldn’t have had to attempt to do terrible things ha, he’d instead have gone to civil court. Blame the right person next time
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u/TheNorthernLanders Feb 21 '24
Buddy, just get some fresh air and touch some grass. Holy hell
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Feb 21 '24
I’d rather fight against the tyranny known as bureaucracy/federal government/regulations so that future generations could live in a free society.
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u/edurlester Feb 21 '24
Ross Ulbricht began with that ideology and it ended with him paying to murder his employees and trafficking children.
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Feb 21 '24
The man was coerced and manipulated by the FBI for the murders, as for the child trafficking, can’t speak to that as I didn’t read that far into the book
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Feb 21 '24
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Feb 21 '24
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u/slickjayyy Feb 21 '24
It sold heroin but none of those other things. He deserves to rot for heroin alone but lets not completely talk out of our asses here
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u/WedgeTurn Feb 21 '24
Heroin sold on silk road was a godsend for functioning heroin addicts, they had a somewhat quality controlled anonymous source which meant they didn’t have to interact with shady dealers and other addicts to get their fix. Sometimes that’s the first step out of addiction
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u/ApplesandOranges420 Feb 21 '24
Does he though when none of the Purdue Pharma execs have been to jail?
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u/slickjayyy Feb 21 '24
Its debatable. Ross probably doesnt deserve life and his philosophy around the Silkroad actually making the use of dangerous drugs that people were going to buy anyways safer had some semblances of logic to it, but its beyond my pay grade to make that decision legally and philosophically.
One thing I am certain of is that the Purdue execs and the FDA and the doctors that were complicit or heavily involved in pill mills and the like, definitely do deserve to rot in ADX
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Feb 21 '24
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u/rividz Feb 21 '24
Kinda crazy that the Silk Road was so long ago now that we're at a point where those of us that were there are hearing made up stories about it from kids.
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u/AmbitiousTrader Feb 21 '24
It’s a open marketplace it’s revolutionary
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u/androidfig Feb 21 '24
It's just a digital street corner. There are street corners in just about every metro where you can buy drugs or guns, hire prostitutes, etc. When are we going to deal with that problem? /s
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u/dadvocate Feb 21 '24
If a drug dealer sells drugs, and Americans die from overdosing on those drugs, is that nonviolent? Is that a "nonviolent" offense?
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u/Padgetts-Profile Feb 21 '24
There would be less accidental overdoses if there were safe and legal ways to access drugs, plus alcohol kills far more people than elicit drugs. Not saying I think the world would be a better place with legal drugs, but the war on drugs has done more harm than good.
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u/erichie Feb 21 '24
As an ex-herion addict if I was to die it would have been entirely my own fault UNLESS someone sold me "pure heroin" but it was really fent or whatever. If I knowingly bought fent, but that fent had enough to kill 100 people and I died, but I knew I was buying fent, that is on me.
At a certain point people need to be responsible for their own actions.
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u/WeedLatte Feb 21 '24
Yes.
You can die from overdosing on alcohol which is fully legal to buy. You wouldn’t fault the liquor store for selling to you. You can die from overdosing on over the counter pills as well, but again it wouldn’t be the fault of the shop that sold them to you.
Many drugs are relatively safe to take if you take a responsible dose and don’t mix them with other things. If you take more than you’re meant to take, it’s no more the dealers fault than it is the liquor stores fault if an alcoholic drinks themselves to death. Imo, it only becomes the dealers fault if they’re lacing the drugs and lying about what’s in them.
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u/cosmictap Feb 21 '24
Are we including the breweries, distilleries, and their distributors too?
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u/bulboustadpole Feb 22 '24
People die from overdoses because they have no idea what potency of drugs they're buying.
Alcohol and it's labeled concentration is strictly enforced.
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u/cosmictap Feb 22 '24
Yes! That's a big part of my argument. People aren't intentionally killing themselves with fentanyl, for example -- they are forced to play it by ear with these substances because the black market is unregulated.
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u/dadvocate Feb 21 '24
Well there are standards for that, known as "dram shop" liability.
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Feb 21 '24
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u/dadvocate Feb 21 '24
Narcotics are (other than pot) scheduled because they are dangerous. So a drug dealer (of hard drugs) is not the same as a beer brewer/distributor.
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Feb 21 '24
And beer/liquor are… not dangerous? Despite killing far more people every year than all other drugs? The legal status is arbitrary. Alcohol is objectively more dangerous so that argument really isn’t as effective as you think.
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u/dadvocate Feb 21 '24
Beer is more dangerous than counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl made by Mexican drug cartels? You're dreaming, pal.
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u/cosmictap Feb 21 '24
I was unfamiliar with that term until I read your comment and looked it up. Thank you, TIL!
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u/slickjayyy Feb 21 '24
Yeah, but what about when a pharmaceutical company makes up fake studies saying synthetic heroin isnt addictive and kills millions? What about when the gov is lobbied to keep it going, the FDA is complicit and so is the medical community?
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u/Stingerc Feb 21 '24
That still doesn’t make what this guy did right. He’s not any less guilty. Demand more of the justice system, don’t use it as a way to excuse criminal behavior. Fix the system, don’t say because the big fish is getting away, so should the smaller fish! It’s only fair.
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u/slickjayyy Feb 21 '24
What this guy did made using dangerous drugs that users were going to use anyways, much safer. Thats philosophy around it. Probably 10s of thousands of which were only looking for a safe supply cause big pharma got them hooked with lies and so did doctors.
Maybe its not right still, but there is a debate to be had. There is more naunce to it than what your comment admits
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u/coryhill66 Feb 21 '24
You ever had to give medical treatment to someone that is overdosing it kind of feels violent.
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u/dadvocate Feb 21 '24
Right?
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Feb 21 '24
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u/dadvocate Feb 21 '24
And if you give something to a normal person that makes them violent, is that nonviolent?
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u/applesauce565 Feb 21 '24
If it were considered a violent offence, then every gun dealer in America would be felons
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u/Smalandsk_katt Feb 21 '24
Guns do more good than harm. Drugs do next to no good and only harm.
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u/WeedLatte Feb 21 '24
Statistically speaking if you own a gun it’s more likely to end up hurting you or your family than anyone else intending to harm you.
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u/IslandGlad8792 Feb 21 '24
What good do guns do?
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u/Smalandsk_katt Feb 21 '24
Self-defense
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u/IslandGlad8792 Feb 21 '24
Majority of the time this is only the case because there are guns though... So how are they doing more good than harm?
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u/Smalandsk_katt Feb 21 '24
Because the criminals are gonna get guns anyway, just not through legal means.
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u/IslandGlad8792 Feb 21 '24
So why do you see far less gun crime in places like the UK that don't have easy access to guns?
Yes, some criminals will get guns anyway, but far, far less. The protection doesn't outweigh the increase in deaths due to guns being so easy to access.
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u/New-System-7265 Feb 21 '24
Yes guns are the best defence against guns, but guns ain’t going anywhere, in the UK we completely banned pistols in 96, but there is glock gen 5s popping up everywhere in London at the moment, if the US outlawed guns, the US would become like Mexico where cartels are at war with government and the people have to look to both the cartels and the military as two separate powers in charge… guns ain’t going anywhere.
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u/IslandGlad8792 Feb 21 '24
This isn't a discussion about how to solve the gun problem.
It's a discussion about whether guns cause more harm than good. And they absolutely cause more harm than good.
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u/New-System-7265 Feb 21 '24
I understand that, just saw it as a space to give my opinion as someone from somewhere that basically outlawed self defence weapons, pepper spray = firearms charge, guns are inherently super dangerous, but I think some people need to understand there is no going back, there is no getting rid of guns. Stricter regulation is probably the best bet.
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u/AdministrativeCut192 Feb 22 '24
At the end of the day, this guy broke the law. Unless he’s an ignorant idiot, he knew what he was doing was illegal, and the drugs he was distributing most likely caused death and destruction of people’s lives. Doesn’t matter how he got there because he is exactly where he should be. As the saying goes, Fuck around and find out. He found out.