Speaking of convicted, pretty sure at least two of the FBI agents assigned to investigate him WERE convicted and sent to jail for personally stealing funds from silk road during the investigation. The whole thing was mishandled from the beginning and the people he 'ordered to kill' weren't even real people, they were fake identities created by the same FBI agents that were posing as the hitmen and mishandling evidence. Reeks of entrapment.

[–] ghost_of_faso3@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 month ago

As always violence is a result of fed involvement, remove them from the picture and everything is fine.

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Allegedly*

Fact: nobody was actually killed.

Fact: He wasn't convicted, so this is just the government claiming someone they dont like did something without proving it (again the proof lacking is the payments, because nobody died)

[–] RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

Ok, you've got me on the wording. He wasn't in jail because he paid for hits, but my point being no matter your thoughts on drug policy, Ross should be in prison

[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Correct me if I'm wrong: IIRC the feds sent back mock pictures to 'confirm' the victims were killed, so I don't know if anyone was assassinated in reality but, as you said, Ulbricht payed to have them murdered.

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You're correct. They were all scams, including one by the US government

[–] db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

That doesn't mean they're scams. Ross really did earnestly pay to get people killed, he just got caught in a honey trap trying to do so and that's a good thing

[–] SpicyAnt@mander.xyz 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I have seen this repeated multiple times on Lemmy. When I look this up, I find:

Dismissal with prejudice: https://freeross.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Doc_14_Dismissal_Indictment_7-26-2018.pdf
The DEA agent responsible for this entrapment sentenced to prison for corruption: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-dea-agent-sentenced-extortion-money-laundering-and-obstruction-related-silk-road
The target of the alleged crime (Curtis Green) advocating for Ross and claiming that his own messages were altered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0w8aOK1NRE
The fact that the payments to the hitmen were made via bank wire transfer: https://imgur.com/why-would-dpr-send-easily-tracked-80k-wire-transfer-hit-when-he-did-all-other-business-bitcoin-PEozMNM

So, the charges are dismissed with prejudice, the DEA agent imprisoned for corruption, the alleged victim testifies in his favor. What makes the other narrative compelling? I see people citing the court document in which the claims were made..... But what is the value of that document if the result was a dismissal with prejudice? Shouldn't that support the innocence narrative?

I am genuinely curious. I'm not necessarily advocating his innocence, I want to understand what other people know that makes them so convinced that he is guilty of this.

[–] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 9 points 1 month ago

Just to note, charges dismissed with prejudice means that the prosecution can't correct the errors and re-file the case. It's usually done when the judge has pretty compelling evidence that the charges are garbage, or there's really egregious prosecutorial misconduct.

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 2 points 1 month ago

when the government puts a gun in the hands of someone under pressure and whispers in their ear "do it. Kill them. Pull the trigger" I'd say they're innocent 100% of the time

If you manipulate someone into doing a violent crime, the person who did the manipulation is the criminal

[–] azl@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Was it? It wasn't mentioned in the article and I don't think I've ever heard that before.

"Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking."

[–] errer@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Here you go: https://www.wired.com/2015/02/read-transcript-silk-roads-boss-ordering-5-assassinations/

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I've never heard about this.

Can you provide a source?

[–] RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/silk-road-drug-vendor-who-claimed-commit-murders-hire-silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht

[–] borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Google dude. It was all over the news back when it was new news.

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Google didn't turn up anything conclusive.

Are you sure you're not misremembering this or making it up? It should be pretty easy for you to provide a source if it's true.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/feds-take-down-online-fraud-bazaar-silk-road-arrest-alleged-mastermind/