Ross Ulbricht AKA the Dread Pirate Roberts of Silk Road fame is now facing a “kingpin” charge which carries with it a 20-year minimum sentence. By claiming that Ulbricht was part of a continuing criminal enterprise (the “kingpin statute”), the Feds have essentially handed Ulbricht a minimum 20 year sentence for his involvement in the marketplace.
Because he was in the “position of organizer, a supervisor position, and a position of management, and from [whose] continuing series of violations Ulbricht obtained substantial income and resources,” the prosecutors are able to tack on more years of jail time in addition to any accrued through his other alleged crimes. The indictment also asks that Ulbricht forfeit all of his illegally gained assets and allows the government to go after any assets “placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court” or that “cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence” will come out of Ulbricht’s own assets, which could mean further investigations into DPR’s bitcoin stash.
It is believed that Ulbricht is cooperating with the government which has led to a number of arrests in the past few months of form Silk Road moderators. Ulbricht’s lawyer, Joshua Dratel, told Forbes:
US v. Ross Ulbricht Indictment by John Biggs