Trump has pardoned convicted drug trafficker

[littleblackcat247]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7e0jve875o

I guess I shouldn't be surprised really.

But this is seriously scary for the first week of his 'common sense' approach.

The phrase common sense in this context translates as nut job!!

Hasn't he pardoned over a thousand far right thugs?

"Ladies I'll protect you whether you want me to or not."

I'm surprised that you're surprised. The next four years will be full of this sort of thing. I remember the last time. Every day was a "what's Trump done today?" journey of discovery.

Not trying to be difficult…but Biden pardoned most of his family (all of whome except his son - who let’s be honest is a total scumbag [carrying an illegal firearm] don’t appear to have done anything) which tbf I think is a bit grim.

Not saying it makes it right, but let’s not pretend anyone in American politics isn’t dodgy as hell!

I dug a bit deeper on this one. Hunter Biden has clearly been a huge issue, and rightly so.
However, the other pardons have been granted to others in his family who are seemingly innocent, as a protection against Trump going against them now.
I am not sure how it works exactly, but it seems like politics there now is getting so personal it’s destructive.
And just for the record, I think Trump is guilty of everything he has been accused of including poor business behaviour and his terrible treatment of women.
However, he’s not alone in these behaviours.
The way Monica Lewinsky was treated by Bill Clinton was appalling. Yes, she was an adult but a very young one. And her treatment after the fact was really poor. He played the contrite husband and his wife played along.
It seems to second nature to some of these people to behave in this way. Perhaps it’s how they get so far in life.

This person was convicted for 40 years for having ordered murders, orchestrated a dark web site for trading narcotics. He’s not a drug addict with problems

Excuse me, @littleblackcat247, but you put this too mildly. Ulbricht is not just some individual low-life low-end drug trafficker. As founder of Silk Road, he made a fortune by facilitating a range of misdeed, drug-trafficking, hacking, money laundering, etc.

I was pretty shocked Trump could overturn a 40 year sentence. That's a long time. What exactly is the justice system for?

@MsAmerica totally agree! The FBI spent several years gathering evidence to convict him.

It is utterly shambolic that he can be released.

Did you whinge when Biden pardoned his son?

Hunter Biden's misdeeds don't even slight compare, do they? The crimes Hunter Biden was prosecuted for didn't involve actually hurting other people unless you think everyone who fills in a gun ownership form wrong or neglects to file tax returns is as bad as sex crime offenders and major drug dealers. Will Smith got forgiven for the same sort of tax underpayment crimes ...

Nicole Wallace complains about journalists chasing after the next shiny thing. It's a deliberate strategy to overwhelm the news cycle with s̶h̶i̶t̶ craziniess.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-sources/index.html

The pardon was a favour to the Libertarian Party who have long campaigned for Ulbricht. He promised he would pardon him in return for lending him their votes.

The campaign on behalf of Ulbricht is interesting because it's not really been of interest to the traditional right wing, mostly the libertarian types but also many on the left leaning side of things.

His sentence was considered to be massive overreach and many civil liberties orgs and lawyers became involved. The court case they feel was corrupt due to factors mentioned in sentencing that were not part of the court case so not things he was actually convicted of.

Two of the FBI agents who were involved in the sting operation colluded to steal profits from Silk Road and went to jail for 5 years which makes their evidence immediately problematic.

I think he did deserve prison time but the case and the sentencing became very political and even the prosecutors were shocked at the sentence handed down because it went far beyond what they had asked for.

The pardon will also appeal to the tech bros who supported Trump because it's widely felt that the political overreach was not about Ulbricht's crimes per say but clamping down on the emerging crypto currency market.

Not sure why my reply has been hidden. Do they automatically hide anything that mentions the 'c' currency word?

@Chuchoter no - did you?

"even the prosecutors were shocked at the sentence handed down because it went far beyond what they had asked for."

Was it? That sentence implies the effective difference was similar to going from 5 or 7 yrs to life. He got the equivalent of life+. Wired says that in 2015 Prosecutors asked for a sentence "^substantially above the mandatory minimum." https://www.wired.com/2015/05/silk-road-prosecutors-ask-judge-send-message-ulbricht-sentencing/^

20 years was the minimum that sentencing guidelines seemed to suggest anyway. https://www.pryorcashman.com/publications/ross-ulbrichts-life-sentence

I imagine the functional difference is to do with parole opporunities... the sentence could have been reduced rather than getting a full pardon.

I hope you realize that one has nothing to do with the other.

First, Hunter Biden's "crimes" are minuscule. He was accused of tax evasion, BUT HAD PAID THE TAXES, and he was accused of mis-representing himself on an application for the ownership of a gun WITH WHICH HE COMMITTED NO CRIMES. I'm not sure if the gun was even fired.

Biden pardoned him because Trump has been ranting like the maniac he is of his anticipated "retribution," going after people from sheer malice and spite.

Surely you can see the difference?

I remember being surprised at the time about the sentence. From what I heard all he did was design and host a website on the dark web. He’s not responsible for who uses it, no one is arresting mumsnet owners for allowing child exploitation images to hang around a public forum for half the night 🤷

all he did was design and host a website on the dark web

Oh sure - that's okay then 🙄

Try reading the article in the original post - and educate yourself. The Dark Web is untraceable for a reason - to commit crimes and not be traced.

Oh, please. It was there just for facilitating crime. As an example, the otherwise excellent Craigslist got into trouble for having only one section in only one part of the site that supposedly facilitated prostitution.