Silk Road suspect faces fresh round of narcotics trafficking charges

US prosecutors have brought a trio of new charges against a Texas man accused of creating the underground online drug marketplace Silk Roadahead of his November trial.

A new indictment against Ross Ulbricht, 30, filed late on Thursday in Manhattan federal court added charges of narcotics trafficking, distribution of narcotics by means of the internet, and conspiracy to traffic in fraudulent identification documents.

The new charges came on top of four other counts previously asserted by prosecutors of narcotics trafficking conspiracy, continuing criminal enterprise, computer hacking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

Ulbricht, who prosecutors said was known online as "Dread Pirate Roberts", lost his bid to dismiss the earlier charges in July. He faces trial on 3 November. 

Prosecutors say Ulbricht owned and operated Silk Road, which they allege served as a black-market bazaar where drugs and criminal services like computer hacking and forgeries could be bought in exchange for the digital currency bitcoin.

The superseding indictment filed Thursday accused Ulbricht of personally distributing and aiding in the distributing of substances containing heroin, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine.

It also accused Ulbricht of engaging in a conspiracy to sell fake ID documents, such as driver's licenses and passports, on Silk Road.

Federal authorities shut down Silk Road last year, though a new internet marketplace under the same name debuted in November.

A lawyer for Ulbricht did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/22/silk-road-suspect-ross-ulbricht-narcotics-trafficking


Comments


[13 Points] ciphersexual:

Thanks. So all the charges, old and new, get argued in the one trial? Seems like not much time for the lawyers to prepare for the new charges.


[7 Points] lamoustache:

Superseding indictment: http://antilop.cc/sr/files/DPR_Silk_Road_Superseding_Indictment.pdf

Also the indictment says "the defendant, engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise [...] undertaken by ULBRICHT, in concert with at least five other persons with respect to whom ULBRICHT occupied a position of organizer, a supervisory position and a position of management, and from which such continuing series of violations ULBRICHT obtained substantial income and resources".

One would think the "other persons" mentioned are chronicpain, Libertas, SSBD and Inigo. However that makes only 4. Wondering who's number 5.


[6 Points] None:

I hope they didn't throw him in solitary.


[3 Points] job91:

Putting him in jail isn't going to solve anything. When will this retarded justice system realize, if one goes, another comes in his place. Change is needed.


[1 Points] emperorlarsob:

So, I guess I don't understand completely why DPR has got distro charges on him. Wouldn't it be like charging the highway with the fault after a car accident? Or like charging the corner for crack distribution? SR was just the infrastructure used to complete the deals. Is it because he benefitted by taking a market fee from sales?


[1 Points] None:

These additions were completely expected. What is remarkable is the lack of additional charges that were also expected (solicitation of murder for hire, rico etc). These added charges are fantastic news for the defense. They represent the totality of what the DA feels are all charges he has any chance of proving in court. "Computer hacking" no doubt brought a great smile to Dratel. This is the throw it all at the wall and see what sticks approach to prosecuting and the additional indictments show that nothing severe stuck

He will serve no more then 7 years, less if they make a deal that includes a shitload of restituition and severely written, conditional restrictions on his eventual probation, including an agreement that will not allow him to sell his story for life. If he had any sense, and indications are that he sadly did not, he would have several BTC stashes that would make the movie/book rights issue moot - nothing elaborate, just survival amounts.

But damn, he sure had the right ideas and motivation. It is sad to see amazing Football heroes that are penniless in trailers from shit planning. I sense the same, sad imagery from Ross and it involves only a single wide. Not one of the cocksucker vendors that got their cut of the $1.2B in revenues will step up and make sure he is taken care of when the heat finally clears and it is safe to get him in a nice condo with a pocket full of debit cards for all his incidentals. At $1.2B, there were MANY who netted 8 figures.


[0 Points] None:

[deleted]


[-7 Points] None:

The price you pay to play..