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| Silk Road website founder Ross Ulbricht 'Dread Pirate Roberts' is sentenced to life in prison | Silk Road website founder Ross Ulbricht 'Dread Pirate Roberts' is sentenced to life in prison |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The creator of online black market website, the Silk Road, has been sentenced to life in prison in the United States. | The creator of online black market website, the Silk Road, has been sentenced to life in prison in the United States. |
| Ross Ulbricht, 31, from San Francisco, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered $183million (£119.7m) to be forfeited, by US District Judge Katherine Forrest. | Ross Ulbricht, 31, from San Francisco, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered $183million (£119.7m) to be forfeited, by US District Judge Katherine Forrest. |
| In handing down the sentence, Ms Forrest told Mr Ulbricht that despite his non-conformity to the typical profile – Mr Ulbricht holds two degrees – he was a criminal. | |
| In this courtroom sketch, Ross William Ulbricht is seated in court and awaits sentencing Friday, May 29, 2015 in New York. (credit: AP/ Elizabeth Williams) “It was a carefully planned life’s work. It was your opus,” she said. “You are no better a person than any other drug dealer.” | In this courtroom sketch, Ross William Ulbricht is seated in court and awaits sentencing Friday, May 29, 2015 in New York. (credit: AP/ Elizabeth Williams) “It was a carefully planned life’s work. It was your opus,” she said. “You are no better a person than any other drug dealer.” |
| During the sentencing Ms Forrest cited six deaths from drugs bought through Mr Ulbricht’s site and also referenced his alleged efforts to arrange the murders of five people. | |
| The government had alleged that Ulbricht had solicited the murders of people he viewed as rivals or threats to his enterprise but he was not convicted of any murder-related offences. | |
| Mr Ulbricht's arrest in 2013 brought to a close what the prosecution described as an unprecedented one-stop shopping mall where the supply of drugs was almost limitless. | Mr Ulbricht's arrest in 2013 brought to a close what the prosecution described as an unprecedented one-stop shopping mall where the supply of drugs was almost limitless. |
| The Silk Road enabled nearly 4,000 drug dealers to expand their markets from the pavement to cyberspace, selling drugs on a never-before-seen scale to more than 100,000 buyers in markets stretching from Argentina to Australia, from the US to Ukraine. | The Silk Road enabled nearly 4,000 drug dealers to expand their markets from the pavement to cyberspace, selling drugs on a never-before-seen scale to more than 100,000 buyers in markets stretching from Argentina to Australia, from the US to Ukraine. |
| "You were captain of the ship, Dread Pirate Roberts," Ms Forrest said. "It was a world with laws you created. It was a place with a lot of rules. If you broke the rules, you'd have all kinds of things done to you." | "You were captain of the ship, Dread Pirate Roberts," Ms Forrest said. "It was a world with laws you created. It was a place with a lot of rules. If you broke the rules, you'd have all kinds of things done to you." |
| Before the sentenced was announced, Mr Ulbricht issued an apology to his friends and family, saying that he was devastated to lose his freedom. | Before the sentenced was announced, Mr Ulbricht issued an apology to his friends and family, saying that he was devastated to lose his freedom. |
| Mr Ulbricht said: "I've essentially ruined my life and broken the hearts of every member of my family and my closest friends. | Mr Ulbricht said: "I've essentially ruined my life and broken the hearts of every member of my family and my closest friends. |
| "I'm not a self-centred sociopathic person that was trying to express some inner badness. I do love freedom. It's been devastating to lose it." | "I'm not a self-centred sociopathic person that was trying to express some inner badness. I do love freedom. It's been devastating to lose it." |