Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road drug marketplace

Ulbricht, sentenced to life in prison in 2015, given full and unconditional' pardon by president

Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had granted a full and unconditional" pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the illegal online drug marketplace the Silk Road.

Ulbricht has been incarcerated since 2013 and was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for running the underground market where drug dealers and others conducted more than $200m in illicit trade using bitcoin. Trump said he had called Ulbricht's mother to tell her he would pardon her son in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly".