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.

United States President Donald Trump said today that he had pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the man behind the “Silk Road” online marketplace that facilitated millions of dollars of drug sales. In 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of masterminding the “dark web” platform,

Ulbricht operated the anonymous digital marketplace known as Silk Road when law enforcement arrested him. The pardon fulfills a campaign pledge Trump made to Ulbricht's Libertarian supporters.