Ross Ulbricht is the first coordinator of the darknet commercial center notoriously referred to as Silk Road. In a decision determined by the federal appeals court last Wednesday, federal officials dismissed an appeal for the founder of this illegal ring. The court ruling surrounds Ulbricht’s conviction from back in 2015 that resulted in him serving a lifelong incarceration sentence after the government charged him with money laundering and trafficking narcotics. His actions occurred in cyberspace using the newly formed currency known as Bitcoin.
Ulbricht pleads the Fourth Amendment
The reason why Ulbricht requested for an appeal is that he initially contended that the district courts arraigned him against his Fourth Amendment Rights.
He firmly believes his conviction violated his right against seizures and searches deemed unreasonable. He accuses the courts of wrongfully denying him his entitlement to a reasonable trial and withholding evidence.
For instance, a significant part of the proof government administrations used to convict Ulbricht, who on Silk Road went by the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, originated from the portable PC he utilized when federal investigators captured him in 2013 at a public library in San Francisco.
Courts spare no justice
The Downtown Manhattan’s U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is providing the final ruling. It states that during Ulbricht’s apprehension the U.S. government rightfully acquired a warrant to confiscate his laptop. That court order authorized investigators to review it for a vast array of data identified with the darknet.
It also allowed them to look into any information that would determine that Ulbricht was, in fact, Dread Pirate Roberts.
According to media reports posted to Yahoo!, the decision further mentions that the cybercriminal attempted to remove most of the evidence from his computer so he could challenge the statutes issued in the court order.
Regardless, the court's final decision determined that any arrangement for the seizure of Ulbricht's PC—and furthermore his accounts with both Facebook and Google—were not unreasonable and didn’t pose any threat to his rights under the Fourth Amendment.
Before Ulbricht’s sentencing, federal prosecutors provided the judge overseeing the case with a document of at least 16 pages requesting that he face a lengthy prison term. They wanted the punishment to serve as an example that will dissuade others from engaging in similar activities. The letter asked for a sentencing that was significantly longer than the 20 years minimum prison term usually acknowledged for the crimes he committed.
