NyPo reports:
Ross Ulbricht — the scrawny alleged mastermind of a notorious anonymous drug bazaar called the Silk Road — spent $730,000 on a failed attempt to have six of his perceived enemies bumped off, federal prosecutors said Thursday in asking successfully that he remain held without bail.
Ulbricht’s supposed contract-hit currency of choice? Bitcoins, the feds allege, the same encrypted, digital coins of the realm that made Silk Road transactions devilishly tough to trace.
“It is not just fantasy — there was $730,000 that this man spent to kill six people,” Assistant US Attorney Serrin Turner told the judge in a packed Manhattan courtroom.
Turner said that his office has evidence that some $80,000 of the alleged hit loot was paid out through wired cash, with the rest paid through the virtual currency, Turner said.
The recipients of this windfall and the six intended victims were not described or named; prosecutors have previously accused Ulbricht of trying to kill just two people.
Today, Magistrate Judge Kevin Fox denied Ulbricht bail. “The accused has attempted to secure the murder of several people,” and has “the means to flee,” said Fox.
Not thrilled with the headline. How about, Silk Road Mastermin Allegedly Spent $730K On 6 Failed Murder Bids.
ReplyDeletePhraseology is everything.
Even worse is the judge saying, “The accused has attempted to secure the murder of several people." Presumption of guilt?
DeleteHas anyone ever seen this guy or heard him speak? He's a voluntarist and peacenik. The guy doesn't sound or look like he could hurt a fly. These accusations just seem absurd. I mean the guy writes manifestos on the non-aggression principle for goodness sake.
ReplyDelete"The recipients of this windfall and the six intended victims were not described or named."
ReplyDeleteProbably because they were all federal agents or informants, as in almost every FBI-foiled "terror" plot.