Pursuits
Accused ‘Dread Pirate’ May Face Life for Bitcoin-Drug Bazaar
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The former Eagle Scout accused of running the $1.2 billion online drug bazaar “Silk Road” may face life in prison if convicted in a trial where jurors will hear allegations he tried to arrange the murders of six people.
Prosecutors claim Ross William Ulbricht, 30, or “Dread Pirate Roberts,” as he was allegedly known online, ran “the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet,” where people used bitcoins to buy illegal drugs, guns, phony identification, computer hacking help and other illegal goods and services anonymously.