Trump pardons Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht

US President Donald Trump is said to have signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who operated Silk Road, the black market for drug trafficking.

Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 in New York on drug and money laundering charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he called Ulbricht’s mother to let her know he had pardoned her son.

Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after the police arrested Ulbricht, sold drugs using Bitcoin, as well as burglary tools and stolen passports.

“Those who worked to impeach him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the current state apparatus against me,” Trump said in a statement posted online Tuesday evening. “He was given two life sentences, including 40 years. Stupid!”

Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking.

At his trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht’s website, located on the “dark web”, sold more than $200m (£131m) worth of drugs anonymously.

He ran Silk Road under the name Dread Pirate Roberts, a reference to a character in the 1987 film The Princess Bride.

Prosecutors said they also called for the death of six people, including one against a former Silk Road employee, although they said there was no evidence that any killings took place.

The Silk Road takes its name from the ancient trade routes that passed through Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.

The site became popular through social media reports and online chats. But users can access the site through Tor – a system that allows people to use the Internet without revealing their identity or country.

Court documents from the FBI said the site had fewer than a million active users, but investigators said they did not know how many were active.

Judging Ulbricht – who has two college degrees – District Judge Katherine Forrest said he was “no better person than a drug dealer”.

He said the site was his “well organized project”.

The judge noted that the decision also served as a message to lobbyists that there would be “very serious consequences”.

“I wanted to give people the power to make decisions in their lives and be private and anonymous,” Ulbricht said in May 2015.

Trump previously said he wanted to reverse Ulbricht’s decision in a speech last year at the Libertarian National Convention.

The Libertarian Party was calling for Ulbricht’s release and said his case was an example of government fraud.

Republican Senator Thomas Massie, a Trump ally, praised the president’s decision.

“Thank you for keeping your word to me and others who have been advocating for Ross’s rights,” the Kentucky lawmaker said.