No argument here, I agree. I consider it a glaring violation of the 8th Amendment. Rapists can get out of prison in under 10 years, murderers can get out in under 30, but somebody running an online market without the supervision and taxation of the government gets multiple life sentences...? The "powers that be" don't like having their power undermined, and they made clear that his sentencing was meant to make an example out of him to discourage others. Whether Ulbricht is a saintly martyr on the temple of libertarianism or a scum only out for money and power means nothing (and meant nothing to his sentencing). This case, and the sentence, was entirely about government power; it's a libertarian issue regardless of the character, actions, or intentions of the man in the middle of the storm.