After 13 short days of trial, Ross Ulbricht has been convicted of running the unprecedented, anonymous online black market known as the Silk Road. In terms of drama, those days included everything: a hidden drug empire, a secret journal, lofty ideals, friendship and betrayal, deception, threats of violence, and in the end, a highly coordinated law enforcement sting operation.
The jury in Ulbricht's case deliberated for only three and a half hours before convicting him on all counts, including conspiring to sell narcotics, hacking software and counterfeit documents, and a "kingpin" charge usually reserved for organized crime bosses. But despite that quick outcome, the case will be remembered for delving into issues as varied as bitcoin's legal status as money, the FBI's right to warrantlessly hack into foreign servers used by Americans, and the power and limits of anonymity on the internet.
American law enforcement has used the case as a chance to make an example of the Silk Road for anyone seeking to replicate its anonymous marketplace. "Ulbricht’s arrest and conviction---and our seizure of millions of dollars of Silk Road Bitcoins---should send a clear message to anyone else attempting to operate an online criminal enterprise," wrote U.S. attorney Preet Bharara in a press release Wednesday. "The supposed anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from arrest and prosecution."
But the trial's real lessons, for the burgeoning online drug trade that now dwarfs the Silk Road, will be how not to get caught. For a new generation of online drug lords inspired by Ulbricht's creation, the transcript of his trial will be required reading. For everyone else, it's a fascinating tale of dark web intrigue.
Here's WIRED's gavel-to-gavel coverage, starting with the pre-trial hearings after Ulbricht's arrest:
November 21, 2013
Alleged Silk Road Owner Denied Bail; Prosecutors Say He Ordered 6 Murders
Despite Ulbricht's family raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for bail, a judge cites his potential for violence to keep him in a Brooklyn jail.
July 9, 2014
Judge Shoots Down ‘Bitcoin Isn’t Money’ Argument in Silk Road Case
Ulbricht's first defense was that he couldn't have been guilty of money laundering if bitcoin isn't money. The judge doesn't buy it.
August 2, 2014
Feds’ Silk Road Investigation Broke Privacy Laws, Defendant Tells Court
Ulbricht's defense team attacks the murky surveillance techniques that tracked down the Silk Road's server in Iceland.
September 5, 2014
The FBI Finally Says How It ‘Legally’ Pinpointed Silk Road’s Server
The prosecution responds to Ulbricht's defense with an explanation from the FBI: The Silk Road's security was unraveled by a leaky captcha.
September 8, 2014
FBI’s Story of Finding Silk Road’s Server Sounds a Lot Like Hacking
Security experts weigh in, pointing out that the FBI's "leaky captcha" story doesn't hold water. Ulbricht defense will take the same argument to court.
October 7, 2014
Feds ‘Hacked’ Silk Road Without a Warrant? Perfectly Legal, Prosecutors Argue
The prosecutors all but admit that the Silk Road was hacked, but claim no laws were broken.
October 10, 2014
Judge Rejects Defense That FBI Illegally Hacked Silk Road---On a Technicality
Ulbricht is pinned by a Catch-22: He can't claim privacy rights to the Silk Road server without admitting it was his.
December 12, 2014
Silk Road Judge: I Won’t Reveal Witnesses Because Ulbricht Could Have Them Killed
Despite being locked in jail without an Internet connection, a judge blinds his defense until the last minute to protect witnesses from him.
January 9, 2015
Why the Silk Road Trial Matters
Gist: Our preview of the trial and its significance for security, law, and libertarianism online.
January 13, 2015
Day 1: Silk Road Defense Says Ulbricht Was Framed by the ‘Real’ Dread Pirate Roberts
In opening arguments, the defense shocks the court by admitting that Ulbricht created the Silk Road, but says he soon gave it up to its real operators, who later set him up as "the perfect fall guy."
January 14, 2015
Day 2: Undercover Agent Reveals How He Helped the FBI Trap Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht
The Department of Homeland Security agent who infiltrated the Silk Road as a buyer, seller, and finally staffer tells his story.
January 15, 2015
Day 3: DHS Believed Mt. Gox CEO Might Have Been Silk Road’s Secret Mastermind
The defense reveals the name of its most compelling alternative suspect: bitcoin mogul Mark Karpeles.
January 20, 2015
Day 4: Silk Road Judge ‘Eviscerates’ Defense’s Evidence That Mt. Gox CEO Was a Suspect
In a serious blow to the defense, the judge precludes Ulbricht's attorneys from cross-examining a DHS agent further on its suspicion of Karpeles, and strikes much of his earlier testimony from the record.
Later that day
Prosecutors Won’t Let a Jury See My Interview With Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts
As part of its motion to prevent the defense from citing "hearsay" in its cross-examination of the government's witnesses, a judge blocks the defense from mentioning my interview with Silk Road's mastermind.
January 21, 2015
Day 5: Secret Journal Allegedly Shows Ross Ulbricht Planned a Silk Road Bank
The prosecution delves for the first time into the journal and logbook found on Ross Ulbricht's laptop at the time of his arrest, revealing his future ambitions for the Silk Road.
January 22, 2015
Day 6: Ulbricht Confessed to Running Silk Road, His College Friend Testifies
One of Ulbricht's biggest mistakes, it turns out, was admitting his creation of the Silk Road to a real-world friend, eBay programmer Richard Bates.
January 23, 2015
*Day 7: *Here’s the Secret Silk Road Journal From the Laptop of Ross Ulbricht
Ulbricht's full journal and logbook, the most damning piece of evidence that would be used to convict him.
January 28, 2015
Day 8: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online
The prosecution calls in a convicted heroin dealer from the Silk Road to show the site's massive reach and tragic consequences.
January 29, 2015
Day 9: Prosecutors Trace $13.4M in Bitcoins From the Silk Road to Ulbricht’s Laptop
In another day of damning testimony, a former FBI agent uses blockchain analysis to prove that more than 700,000 bitcoins were transferred from the Silk Road servers to Ulbricht's personal machine.
February 2, 2015
Day 11: Read the Transcript of Silk Road’s Boss Ordering 5 Assassinations
The Silk Road server yields a series of disturbing messages, in which the Dread Pirate Roberts commissions a series of murders from a contact he believes works with the Hell's Angels biker gang.
February 3, 2015
Day 12: Silk Road Defense Makes Its Final Pitch: Don’t Trust Internet Evidence
In closing arguments, the defense pulls together the loose threads in the trial to argue that Ulbricht was framed. The prosecution tells the jury not to fall for a "desperate smokescreen."
February 4, 2015
Day 13: Silk Road Mastermind Ross Ulbricht Convicted of All 7 Charges
The jury returns its verdict: Ross Ulbricht is the Dread Pirate Roberts. He faces from 30 years to life in prison.
