Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road anonymous online market, thanked the President Donald Trump for granting him a full and unconditional pardon. In a video posted online, a visibly emotional Ulbricht praised Trump for being “a man of his word” and thanked the president for giving him the “amazing gift” of freedom.

“I'm so grateful to have my life back, to have my future back, to have this second chance,” Ulbricht says in the video. He also said the pardon was “an important moment for everyone everywhere, who loves freedom and thinks about second chances.”

People hold signs in support of imprisoned darknet marketplace Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht as former President Trump attends the Libertarian Party's national convention on May 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Reuters/Brian Snyder/Reuters)

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Trump announced on his “Truth Social” social media platform that he called Ulbricht's mother and informed her about her son's pardon. The president said it was done “in honor of him and the Libertarian Movement, which has supported me so strongly.”

“The lunatics working to prosecute him were some of the same lunatics involved in the modern weaponization of the government against me,” Trump wrote.

recently”The Will Cain Show,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who pushed for Ulbricht's release, praised Trump for granting the pardon. Paul noted that those who use the Silk Road to sell drugs receive “light sentences,” while Ulbricht was given two life terms. The possibility of parole non-existent penalties.

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders at the White House on January 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Washington Post via Jabin Botsford/Getty Images/Getty Images)

TRUMP SIGNS 'FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL' PARDON OF SILK ROAD CREATOR ROSS ULBRICHT

Ulbricht was convicted of using the Silk Road website, founded in 2011, for illegal drug transactions with cryptocurrency. He ran the site from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. In 2015 Ulbricht was punished.

In a 2015 press release, ICE called Silk Road “the most sophisticated and expansive criminal marketplace on the Internet.”

Last month, Ulbricht wrote: “I intend to study every day for my last month's resolution for 2024 and accelerate as I prepare for freedom.”

LEFT: Ross Ulbricht speaks in emotional video after being pardoned RIGHT: President Trump signs documents in the Oval Office (@RealRossU/X/REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

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Trump promised to pardon Ulbricht during the 2024 election campaign, saying he would do so “on Day 1.” The move was apparently part of Trump's strategy to woo Libertarian voters. Trump spoke at both the Libertarian National Convention and about commuting Ulbricht's sentence. Bitcoin 2024 conference.

In addition to Ulbricht, Trump issued amnesties for pro-lifers convicted under the FACE Act and many January 6 defendants. The pardons for pro-life protesters came a day before the March for Life in Washington, D.C., where Vice President JD Vance will speak.