Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is set to serve life in prison after he lost his court appeal this week. Ulbricht earned seven convictions — including money laundering and narcotics conspiracy — for operating the drug marketplace in 2015, filing his appeal later that same year, and arguing it in court in 2016.
In this case, his sentence is unusually long due to a “kingpin” charge prosecutors were able to make stick — a conviction usually reserved for major cartel leaders…
That’s one spicy meatball. Not sure if “kingpin” really suits, but the dude did run an open marketplace for illicit substances and a hell of a lot of other things allegedly.
Does the punishment fit? Hard to say, but it will certainly have any aspiring nerds looking to copy-cat second guessing themselves I’d say.
Source: Silk Road founder will get life in prison after losing court appeal – The Verge