In recent news, it's been divulged that Ulbricht's defense team has uncovered more potentially corrupt agents that were associated with Silk Road case. And this comes after it has already been divulged that at least two Silk Road investigators had allegedly stolen bitcoins from the site and tried to extort money from Ulbricht himself.
For now, Ulbricht's team continues to move forward with the appeal process and they just held their recent Free-Ross-A-Thon in order to help raise money to do that. Their goal was to raise $14,000 and they raised over $23,000 to date.
The integrity of the investigation surrounding Silk Road has been questioned from the start and now even years later, there are discoveries about even more possible corruption that was involved.
Ulbricht's team also say now that they are newly aware of supposedly wiped correspondence that possibly involved another corrupt investigator that was involved with the case. These allegations only further add fuel to the concerns regarding the integrity of the legal procedures surrounding the Silk Road case. Ulbricht's team have already gone ahead and sent a discovery demand to the attorney general's office and they want to know exactly what information the government has on that individual and his involvement with the Silk Road's pseudonymous operator DPR (Dread Pirate Roberts).
If there is any weight to the allegations about further corruption in the case, especially about certain information like this being covered up, then it is clear that the procedure and evidence lack integrity. Depending on what arises from these questions and possible discovery, it could prompt a new trial to take place over the matter in the future. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has also recently heard oral arguments in regards to the appeal attempt of the conviction of Ulbricht. Some find it a bit draconian that he was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. We don't even see this sort of punishment given to folks who contribute to one of the most devastating environmental disasters of all time, or if they take part in a massive fraudulent banking scandal. Heck, even child rapists are seen to get less time.
In the same letter and discovery related to the case, it also looks like someone might have accessed the DPR account while Ulbricht was already in jail.
Attorneys for Ulbricht wrote in the letter that they had also discovered evidence which supports allegations that someone other than Ulbricht logged into the DPR account while he was already detained in federal custody. Ulbricht was arrested in October of 2013, and forensic analysts uncovered that the time-stamp for the last log-in by DPR was on November 18th of the same year, which is several weeks after he was already detained.
And this calls into question the criminal responsibility of those involved with the Silk Road case. But the majority concern of the letter was regarding the other potential government official who was acting criminally by supposedly selling information about the case to DPR, and they would then get rid of the evidence of the discussion or arrangement that occurred.
Ulbrichts mother has said that for her son to have received a life sentence without parole, over a case that was based heavily on vulnerable and questionable digital evidence, is a travesty; it's a bastardization of justice.
Ulbricht's mother has never stopped fighting and she continues to travel the world, speaking at different events, in an effort to raise awareness for her son's case. In a letter written to his mother, Ulbricht describes his time behind bars and says that he has been trying to keep busy with his newfound boredom and new way of living. He took to playing ping pong, reading extensively, and doing yoga. His mother and those who support him maintain that he is no threat to the community and public in general, and in fact it's quite the contrary in that they see him being able to offer value to other people in the marketplace; he could contribute in a positive way if he was set free.
Pics:
Reuters
Pixabay
Sources:
https://www.wired.com/2016/11/ross-ulbrichts-lawyers-point-another-corrupt-agent-silk-road-case/
https://freeross.org/freerossathon/?v=3e8d115eb4b3
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/someone-accessed-dread-pirate-roberts-silk-road-operators-account-while-ross-ulbricht-was-in-jail
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/someone-accessed-dread-pirate-roberts-silk-road-operators-account-while-ross-ulbricht-was-in-jail
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/ross-ulbricht-reflects-on-life-in-prison-new-proof-of-evidence-tampering-by-law-enforcement-1480719077