President Trump just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright, a man convicted in 2015 of drug trafficking and other crimes over running a so-called ‘dark website’, and told her he’d just gave her son and unconditional pardon.

Here’s what Trump wrote:

I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross. The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!

 
Rand Paul asked Trump just today to show mercy on Ulbright in a letter, pointing out that Ulbright was condemned to serve the rest of his life in prison while some of the drug dealers using his site only got five years:

I write to urge you to follow through on your stated intention to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht. Mr. Ulbricht is serving two life sentences plus forty years without parole for nonviolent offenses related to the website he launched in early 2011. Like so many others, I am shocked by the harsh sentence imposed on this first-time offender.

Mr. Ulbricht’s sentence is vastly disproportionate to his crimes. He was condemned to spend the rest of his life in prison because he was held liable for the drugs and illegal goods bought and sold on his platform. Yet, the worst drug sellers on the site received significantly more lenient sentences. For example, Steven Sadler, who sold over a million dollars worth of drugs, was sentenced to five years in prison and four years of supervised release. Matthew Verran Jones, who was among the top five percent of drug sellers on the site, received a prison sentence of nearly six years. The single largest trafficker of drugs on the site, Cornelis Jan Slomp, received a ten-year sentence. Some of the most prolific drug sellers go free, but Mr. Ulbricht remains imprisoned. Federal prosecutors also alleged that Mr. Ulbricht was involved in a murder-for-hire scheme but later moved to drop those charges. The indictment was dismissed with prejudice by a U.S. District Court in 2018.

Today, Mr. Ulbricht is a model prisoner. Now a 40-year-old man who just spent his twelfth Christmas in federal prison, Mr. Ulbricht devotes much of his time helping his fellow prisoners by offering classes teaching math, science, and yoga, holding support groups for those coping with substance abuse, and conducting a meditation class to help with the experience of incarceration. Our criminal justice system should protect society from violent lawbreakers instead of filling our prisons with nonviolent offenders like Mr. Ulbricht. Throughout my tenure in the Senate, I worked with Republicans and Democrats to support over two dozen different pieces of legislation to help bring much needed improvement to our system. I believe Mr. Ulbricht’s case is worthy of consideration of clemency because of the nonviolent nature of his offenses and his laudable behavior while incarcerated.

You have previously indicated that you would grant a full commutation of Mr. Ulbricht’s sentence, and I respectfully request that you do so. Thank you for your consideration.

Promises made. Promises kept.