Alleged Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht has suffered a setback in his efforts to fight federal narcotics and money laundering charges after a US court rejected his bid to dismiss the suit, reports Coindesk.com.
Ulbricht’s lawyer originally sought to dismiss the charges in late March, citing flaws in the legal definition of money laundering. As well, the dismissal filing challenged allegations that Ulbricht directly conspired with Silk Road users.
On 9th July, US District Judge Katherine Forrest rejected the defendant’s claims regarding the validity of the charges, saying that there are sufficient grounds for Ulbricht to be prosecuted based on the government’s case. According to court documents, the court dismissed Ulbricht’s claims that bitcoin does not fall within money laundering laws.
With the motion to dismiss all charges rejected, the case is now expected to move to trial with a 3rd November start date. Ulbricht, who has plead not guilty, faces life behind bars for charges that also include computer hacking and continued criminal enterprise, the latter of which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years alone.
When the government focuses on you they are focused. Using Bitcoin is not a method to get around government regulations.
No comments:
Post a Comment