Sentencing Disparity in the Silk Road Case

“Such a sentence should, at the very least, be reserved for the worst crimes committed by repeat offenders…Ross’s crime is nowhere near that category and his sentence is grossly excessive.”
– Shon Hopwood. Law Professor, Georgetown University

Before his arrest, Ross had no criminal history and all his convictions were 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.

Extreme Sentencing Disparity

The average prison sentence received by all the other defendants related to the case is 6 years. This includes the actual drug sellers, the men who helped run Silk Road, and the men who owned Silk Road 2.0. Nearly all of them received sentences below the sentencing guidelines and 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]
Extreme sentencing between Silk Road defendants
Regarding the one defendant still in prison:

  • 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.

Silk Road 2.0

In 2019, Thomas White, the creator and co-operator of Silk Road 2.0—a bigger replica of Silk Road that he and Blake Benthall launched independently after Ross was arrested—was sentenced in the UK to 5 years and 4 months.[5] Silk Road 2.0 had more drug listings than the original Silk Road[6] and was one of many dark net markets that multiplied after Ross’s arrest and sentencing.[7] 
Blake Benthall, the admitted co-owner of Silk Road 2.0 was arrested in San Francisco in 2014 on the exact same charges Ross was.[8] Yet, the same people who prosecuted Ross (in SDNY) released him from custody after just 13 days in jail. He later faced only tax evasion charges and did no prison time.[9]
In Blake Benthall’s criminal complaint, 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.”)[10] Yet, Blake Benthall and Ross were treated very differently by our criminal justice system.
Screenshot from the BOP Inmate Locator. Blake Benthall, co-owner of Silk Road 2.0, spent less than 13 days in jail.

References