On February 4, 2014, Ross Ulbricht was charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit computer hacking. On August 21, 2014, a superseding indictment added three additional charges.[33] The trial began on January 13, 2015.
Murder-for-hire charges
Federal prosecutors alleged that Ulbricht had paid US$730,000 (equivalent to about $1,010,000 in 2025) in murder-for-hire deals targeting at least five people, allegedly because they threatened to reveal the Silk Road enterprise. Prosecutors believe no contracted killing actually occurred. Ulbricht was not charged in his trial in New York federal court with murder for hire, but evidence was introduced at trial supporting the allegations. The district court found by a preponderance of the evidence that Ulbricht probably commissioned the murders. The possibility that Ulbricht had commissioned murders was considered by the judge in sentencing Ulbricht to life and was a factor in the Second Circuit’s decision to uphold the sentence. Ulbricht was separately indicted in federal court in Maryland on a single murder-for-hire charge, alleging that he contracted to kill one of his employees (a former Silk Road moderator). Prosecutors moved to drop this indictment after his New York conviction and sentence became final.
Conviction and sentence
On February 4, 2015, Ulbricht was convicted on all counts after a jury trial that had taken place in January 2015. On May 29, 2015, he was sentenced to double life imprisonment plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole, to be served concurrently. Ulbricht was also ordered to pay about US$183 million ($249 million in 2025 dollars) in restitution, based on the total sales of illegal drugs and counterfeit IDs through Silk Road. Following his conviction, two of the federal agents who participated in the investigation were arrested and charged with wire fraud and money laundering. As the corruption was never mentioned at his trial, Ulbricht unsuccessfully used it as an argument when appealing for a new trial.
During his first week in office, Trump pardoned Ulbricht.
On September 10, 2026, Ulbricht spoke at the “Republican National Convention” in Dallas where he praised Trump.