[ConcernedCitizen]

It's a shame Ulbricht received the same sentence as a mass shooter. All he did was provide a framework for sellers, yet he's the one being blamed for crimes he didn't commit. Hopefully he'll get a presidential pardon or something, because even 8 years seems excessive for what he did.

There was evidence planted (if you read the transcripts of the legal proceedings and sentencing, you can verify this yourself). The FBI used the site as an example and he just happened to be the person that they decided to manipulate. I can't put myself into his shoes, but I can defend everyone's rights, of which he has been deprived sometimes for months. He's currently serving 2 life sentences +40 years. He will die in prison, which will look great for the government's criminal division and did literally nothing to stop DNMs operating on the internet.

Additionally, here's a quote from Ross's mother, Lyn on how evidence tampering and multiple DPRs is a very real possibility:
“Joshua Dratel, Ross' lawyer, said a long time ago that we only know the tip of the iceberg regarding the corruption in this case. This week we have seen another big chunk of ice revealed: evidence tampering and apparently at least one additional DPR. If this backup of the forum database had not been saved or discovered; if logins made by DPR after Ross' arrest were not found, no one would be the wiser. This begs the question: how much more is there? Unfortunately we may never know, as it's the nature of digital evidence that it's easily changed, planted or deleted without a trace. That my son — or anyone — would get a life sentence without parole based on vulnerable digital evidence, especially when it's been corrupted, puts us all in peril.”

It's definitely a rabbit hole when it comes to the shady stuff they did to make that sentence stick. They needed someone to blame for the evils of all the dealers, junkies, and fraudsters that used the site. In reality Ross was much more neutral.

Right! And I'm not defending his actions. But there was a system put in place to specifically threaten him, his livelihood, his work, and his freedom. I don't know about others' circumstances, but I would do just about anything to ensure that my empire didn't fall overnight and I can probably say that the same is true for most others, regardless if they're willing to admit it. Humans will do anything to maintain a semblance of control over their surroundings, it's our nature. So the best way to show others under Ross that what they were doing was something that the government didn't like, was to cut him down in his prime, as the head of the snake, so to speak. You cut that off? The rest of the body dies shortly after. Like any occupying/occupational force, they're going to want to strive to take the leadership out of the equation, because without leadership there can be no operational/local regime.