Legal experts don’t believe that Silk Road founder, Ross Ulbricht, can have his $18 billion in cryptocurrency returned now that he has been pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Newsweek sought email comment from the Department of Justice and Ross Ulbricht on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
If Ulbricht were to have his $18-billion bitcoin cryptocurrency returned, he would instantly become one of the richest people in the world.
ULBRICHT FAMILY
What To Know
In 2013, the FBI seized $28 million of bitcoin cryptocurrency from Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road website, through which people openly sold drugs and fake documents. That bitcoin is now worth about $18 billion, given the massive surge in its value in the last 10 years.
Ulbricht had been sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years for running one of the world’s largest drug-selling websites.
On Tuesday, Trump announced that he was pardoning Ulbricht, who was serving two life sentences plus 40 years without the possibility of parole.
Ulbricht was released from a federal prison that night.
A spokesperson for Blake J. Harris and Jonah Tulis, who recorded more than 60 hours of interview footage with Ulbricht, told Newsweek that they don’t know if he will apply to have his bitcoin returned.
What People Are Saying
Former federal prosecutor, Neama Rahmani, told Newsweek that he doesn’t think that Ulbricht can have his bitcoin returned. “A pardon does not automatically entitle a criminal defendant to property that is seized or forfeited,” he said.
Rahmani, now president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm in California, said that Ulbricht is unlikely to succeed in a request to have his property returned.
“A pardon usually has no effect on civil asset forfeiture laws. Because Ulbricht’s conviction was final and his appeals were exhausted, and because Silk Road’s assets were the subject of separate civil forfeiture proceedings, it’s unlikely he will be able to recover his bitcoin notwithstanding Trump’s pardon,” he said.
Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, agreed that Ulbricht is unlikely to succeed in any request to have his bitcoin returned.
“The law currently says that a pardon does not erase the fact that a person was convicted, nor does a pardon effect civil liability to an individual or to the government,” Germain told Newsweek.
“It only affects the government’s ability to impose or continue a criminal punishment,” he added.
“I don’t know what happened in Ulbricht’s case to the seized bitcoin. If it was subject to civil forfeiture, the pardon should not allow him to get it back,” he said.
What Happens Next
Ulbricht could apply to have his bitcoin returned but, from what legal experts have told Newsweek, it is unlikely he will succeed.
He is likely to seek employment in the tech sector now that he has been released from prison.
