WEBVTT - `Dread Pirate Roberts' Loses Silk Road Appeal (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>He went by the pseudonym dread Pirate Roberts, after the

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<v Speaker 1>character in the movie of the Princess Bride. He ran

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<v Speaker 1>a multimillion dollar online black market where people bought drugs,

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<v Speaker 1>hacking tools, and false identification. Now Ross William Albrich, the

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<v Speaker 1>thirty three year old founder of the Silk Road Internet bazaar,

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<v Speaker 1>is looking at a lifetime in prison after a federal

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<v Speaker 1>appeals court upheld his conviction for drug trafficking and other

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<v Speaker 1>other crimes. It was a three nothing decision, but it

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<v Speaker 1>took a hundred and thirty nine pages, and along the

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<v Speaker 1>way the court question the wisdom of such harsh sentences.

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<v Speaker 1>With us to talk about it is Bloomberg News as

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<v Speaker 1>reporter reporter in the very busy New York Federal court House,

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<v Speaker 1>Bob van Voris, Bob, thank you for joining us. Um So,

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<v Speaker 1>drug dealers with no criminal history don't normally get such

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<v Speaker 1>long sentences. What was it about this case that was different? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>there were a lot of factors that the sentencing judge,

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<v Speaker 1>Katherine Forrest in Manhattan pointed to in sentencing him to life.

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<v Speaker 1>Among other things, Ross William albrickt uh tried to arrange

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<v Speaker 1>for the murders of five people. Uh. Now these were

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<v Speaker 1>online people, people using aliases and uh in a sort

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<v Speaker 1>of house of mirrors kind of effect. The police weren't

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<v Speaker 1>able to figure out whether anybody actually was killed. They

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<v Speaker 1>think that probably none of these murders were carried out.

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<v Speaker 1>But in any case, Albrick paid sifty thousand dollars to

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<v Speaker 1>put out contracts on people who were trying who were

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<v Speaker 1>threatening to expose him and to expose other people on

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<v Speaker 1>the On the site, Bob You wrote that the Circuit

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<v Speaker 1>of Judges the panel showed empathy for his claim that

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<v Speaker 1>the sentence is too harsh, but said it had to

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<v Speaker 1>follow rules. And Gerald Lynch said, it's very possible that

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<v Speaker 1>at some future point will come to regard these sees

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<v Speaker 1>as tragic mistakes, which is the sentencing laws. But the

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<v Speaker 1>judge had leeway. Don't trial judges have leeway with the

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<v Speaker 1>sentencing rules. Some judges, like Judge Jed Raikoff, don't believe

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<v Speaker 1>in maxing out all defendants under the federal sentencing guidelines.

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<v Speaker 1>That's exactly right, and Judge Lynch on the Courts of

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<v Speaker 1>Appeals has written about this in the past. He has

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<v Speaker 1>been skeptical. He was the author of the hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>thirty nine paid opinion, and he in the past has

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<v Speaker 1>been skeptical of using the criminal law to address drug

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<v Speaker 1>use and drug trafficking and suggested that maybe this is

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<v Speaker 1>not the best approach, and certainly the extreme sentences handed

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<v Speaker 1>down to people who use and sell drugs maybe is

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<v Speaker 1>not wise, but that's the law right now. And the judge,

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<v Speaker 1>the sentencing judge said Forrest under the law, had a

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<v Speaker 1>great deal of discretion and uh imposed the maximum of

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<v Speaker 1>life against against Albert, who's thirty three years old and

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<v Speaker 1>faced a very very long time in prison. Bob prosecutors

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<v Speaker 1>offered evidence of six overdose deaths linked to people linked

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<v Speaker 1>to people who are using silk road and all objected

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<v Speaker 1>to that at at trial. How if at all, did

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<v Speaker 1>that factor into the appeals court decision that Judge Force

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<v Speaker 1>took into account. But the appeals court found that even

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<v Speaker 1>without that evidence, the the judge's sentence was based primarily

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<v Speaker 1>on the traffic, the drug trafficking, and the conspiracy allegations

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<v Speaker 1>and the fact that, as I said, he tried to

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<v Speaker 1>have five people murdered. Uh, you know, even though those

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<v Speaker 1>people uh ended up not being killed. Uh. He certainly

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<v Speaker 1>tried to try to have that accomplished. Bob Albrick could

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<v Speaker 1>not tell jurors at his trial that two former federal

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<v Speaker 1>agents stole money from his online accounts while investigating Silk Road.

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<v Speaker 1>Why is in government misconduct and corruption during an investigation,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it affects it or not, something a jury should

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<v Speaker 1>be allowed to consider. Well, this is another aspect of that,

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<v Speaker 1>this sort of online house of mirrors. There were two

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<v Speaker 1>agents who were involved in the investigation. They were down

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<v Speaker 1>in Baltimore, a d e A agent and a secret

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<v Speaker 1>service agent. They were online trying to uh fool Albrecht

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<v Speaker 1>h Pirate Roberts uh into thinking that they were other people,

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<v Speaker 1>using aliases of people who were already cooperating with the

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<v Speaker 1>investigation UM as part of this, as part of the

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<v Speaker 1>online anonymity of investigating this anonymous dread pirate Roberts, these

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<v Speaker 1>two crooked agents use that as covered to steal hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of thousands of dollars in bitcoin UM. They were eventually

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<v Speaker 1>caught and played guilty. The Court of Appeals ruled that

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<v Speaker 1>this really had nothing to do with Albrick's guilt or innocence,

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<v Speaker 1>and this was kind of a side even though they

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<v Speaker 1>were very clearly, uh, you know, illegal acts by the

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<v Speaker 1>by the investigators. Bob, We're gonna have to leave it there.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much for joining us on Bloomberg Law.

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<v Speaker 1>Talking about Ross William Albrick, otherwise known as dread Pirate Roberts.

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<v Speaker 1>He is the thirty three year old founder of the

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<v Speaker 1>Silk Road Internet bazaar, which was used to buy drugs,

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<v Speaker 1>and he is now looking at a life sentence in prison,

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<v Speaker 1>which was upheld by federal appeals court