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Ross Ulbricht spent 11 years in prison after founding an alternative online marketplace called the Silk Road. He would have lost his entire life behind bars if not for a pardon from President Donald Trump.
Thursday, he walked across the stage at the Republican Midterm Convention to hammer home the delicate fragility of freedom when corrupt politicians are in control.
‘This is how a free country falls to tyranny.’
Ulbricht was convicted of seven offenses, including distributing narcotics, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, and conspiring to commit money laundering. He was supposed to be locked up for two life sentences with no parole.
Only the relentless support of his wife, mother, and President Trump, who pardoned Ulbricht almost immediately upon returning to office, spared him.
When corrupt politicians are at work, Ulbricht claimed, freedom can be stolen from ordinary Americans in an instant.
“It can be pointed at political opponents or anyone who stands in the way of those seeking power,” Ulbricht warned at the convention. “This is incredibly dangerous. This is how a free country falls to tyranny. President Trump understands that, and that's why he freed me.”
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Ulbricht also claimed that since retaking office, Trump has taken notice of many other beleaguered defendants swept up in the system and helped them without much fanfare.
"It's just easy to miss all of his wins for liberty among the torrent of headlines out there. So let me tell you what he's been doing," Ulbricht said. "There are hundreds of decent Americans you have never heard of who this president has pardoned or freed from prison. No cameras, just his signature and a family getting their loved one back."
"President Trump has put our rights and our freedoms at the very center of his administration," he said.
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