Libertarian and crypto allies of Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for distributing drugs on his Silk Road website, leveraged President Trump’s desire for political support to secure his release.

President Trump said he granted the full pardon in honor of Ross Ulbricht's mother "and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly."

President Trump made good on a campaign promise made to libertarians to pardon Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who received two life sentences in 2015 for creating and operating the infamous dark web marketplace that traded drugs,