Extreme Sentencing Disparity in the Silk Road Case
Prior to his arrest, Ross Ulbricht had no criminal history. At trial, his convictions were all non-violent. He was never prosecuted for causing harm or bodily injury to anyone. Compared to others sentenced for far worse conduct—including violent crimes—Ross’s punishment is wildly excessive and disproportionate.
Ross’s sentence dwarfs that of all the other defendants related to the case combined, including the actual drug sellers, the men who helped run Silk Road, and the men who created and ran Silk Road 2.0. All but one are are free today.
- Jan Slomp was the biggest drug seller on Silk Road. He had a sentencing guideline of life in prison. He was sentenced to 10 years and released in 2020 after having served 7 years and 2 months.[1]
- Jason Hagen was the largest methamphetamine seller on Silk Road. One of the drug trafficking counts he pled guilty to had a 10 year-to-life mandatory range. He was sentenced to 3 years[2] (reduced from 6 years because of federal agent corruption).
- Forum moderator Peter Nash was given a 17-month “time served” sentence, even though his charges carried a mandatory minimum of 10 years.[3]
- Programmer Michael Weigand was alleged to be a technological adviser on Silk Road who worked on keeping the site secure. He received an 8-month sentence in 2020.[4]
- Roger Thomas Clark was the admitted co-owner of Silk Road and was sentenced to 20 years. The drug trafficking charge he pled guilty to makes him eligible for First Step Act “earned time” credits, which will reduce his time in prison. Having been incarcerated since late 2015, he should be released in 2028, with good conduct.
Blake Benthall in an exclusive NYT interview – July 20, 2024
In late 2013, Blake Benthall started building Silk Road 2.0—a bigger replica of Silk Road that he and Thomas White launched independently after Ross was arrested. Eventually, Blake Benthall was arrested in San Francisco in 2014 on the exact same charges Ross was.[5] However, unlike Ross, he was offered the opportunity to use his IT skills to help the government and only spent 8 months in a detention center.[6]
Silk Road 2.0 had more drug listings than the original Silk Road[7] and was one of many dark net markets that multiplied after Ross’s arrest and sentencing.[8]
In the criminal complaint against Blake Benthall, the FBI acknowledged that Silk Road 2.0 was nearly identical to the original one (i.e: “SR 2.0 offers its users an almost identical user experience to that offered on SR 1.0.”)[9] Yet, Blake Benthall and Ross were treated very differently.
In 2019, Thomas White, the co-creator of Silk Road 2.0, was sentenced in the UK to 5 years and 4 months.[10]
References
- ▲[1] – Business Insider article, May 29, 2015 (“The biggest drug dealer on Silk Road has been sentenced to 10 years in prison”)
- ▲[2] – The Oregonian article, November 5, 2015 (“Global meth dealer from Vancouver gets lighter sentence because of U.S. agents’ ‘Silk Road’ corruption”)
- ▲[3] – DeepDotWeb article, May 27, 2015 (“Silk Road Moderator Peter Nash Sentenced to Time Served”)
- ▲[4] – BankInfoSecurity article, December 22, 2020 (“Former ‘Silk Road’ Associate Sentenced to 8 Months in Prison”)
- ▲[5] – Criminal complaint for Blake Benthall
- ▲[6] – New York Times article, July 20, 2024 (“He Was an Online Drug Lord. Now He’s a Crypto Entrepreneur.”)
- ▲[7] – Department of Justice press release, November 6, 2014 (“Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court”)
- ▲[8] – Wired article, May 23, 2017 (“The Silk Road Creator’s Life Sentence Actually Boosted Dark Web Drug Sales”)
- ▲[9] – Criminal complaint for Blake Benthall (page 9)
- ▲[10] – Bitcoin.com article, April 12,2019 (“Silk Road 2 Founder Finally Sentenced 5 Years After His Arrest”)