# Ross Ulbricht

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Ross Ulbricht," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ross-ulbricht/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Founder of the online marketplace Silk Road, sentenced to life plus 75 years before being pardoned by President Trump; John Kiriakou met Ulbricht's mother and sister two weeks before the pardon and calls the length of the original sentence a sickening miscarriage of justice.*

- **Known for:** Founder of Silk Road
- **Original sentence:** Life plus 75 years
- **Outcome:** Pardoned by President Trump

**Ross Ulbricht** is the founder of the online marketplace Silk Road. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says Ulbricht received a sentence of *"life plus 75 years"* — which he calls *"some draconian sentence"* — before President Trump pardoned him.[1]

Kiriakou says he met Ulbricht's mother and sister two weeks before the pardon and told them he wanted to have them on his podcast because *"this entire story is so sickening and it's such a miscarriage of justice."* He notes their advocacy campaign — t-shirts, hashtags, a sustained push across podcasts — culminated in the pardon, which gave Kiriakou hope for clemency in his own circumstances.[1]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou — War On Whistleblowers: The High C (2026-02-27), at 18:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvG1MS2pAQ&t=1119s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-27-the-ripple-effect-podcast/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ross-ulbricht/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt