US President Donald Trump has pardoned the founder of the illegal website Silk Road, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for drug trafficking and illegal business.
Ross Ulbricht's website, created in January 2011, was used to sell illegal goods on the dark web, including $200 million worth of drugs. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shut down the site in October 2013.
"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to tell her that in her honor and in the honor of the libertarian movement, which I so ardently support, I have the pleasure of signing a full and unconditional pardon for her son," the US president posted on the Truth Social network.
Trump promised to free Ulbricht during a speech in May at the convention of the Libertarian Party, a movement that advocates for individual freedoms and limiting the role of government.
Ulbricht's case became famous in libertarian circles, who saw the ruling as an attack on free-market principles.
The decision to pardon Ulbricht, who was also accused in alleged cases of contract killings but the charges were later dropped, was made even though Trump accused Democrats during the election campaign of being lenient towards delinquency and crime.
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