bro is ross ulbricht

1) born march 27, 1984 in austin, texas eagle scout, good grades, skateboard kid
2) studied at university of texas on a full academic scholarship, later pursued graduate studies at penn state
3) a self-described libertarian who believed the government had no right to control what adults chose to do
4) tried day trading, failed. started a used book company. then discovered bitcoin
5) launched silk road in january 2011 an anonymous dark web marketplace running on tor and bitcoin
6) went by the alias "dread pirate roberts" a character from the princess bride
7) over 100,000 buyers, hundreds of millions laundered, drugs linked to at least 6 deaths
8) arrested october 1, 2013 in a san francisco public library laptop open, logged into silk road
9) convicted on all 7 counts in 2015. sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years, no parole
10) became a cause for the crypto and libertarian communities "free ross" was a real movement
11) january 21, 2025 donald trump granted him a full and unconditional pardon after 11+ years in prison, he walked free