Bryant, I don't want to be polemic with you. This post is only to satisfy one my simple curiosity. And maybe to understand more. Maybe all you write is correct. I cannot know the right about this question. The only thing that is sure in this story (and no one from both us can deny) is that Ross Ulbricht is a person who had created and owned the most profitable platform to hold the most enormous market of illegal things (dangerous things for the people) in the USA in which were moved millions of us dollars.
Ross Ullbrich profited from his activity, to some extent. He received tens of thousands of Bitcoins as fee, but he didn't converted any of that to fiat. Yes. Trading of drugs are illegal in the United States. But drug legalization is spreading all over the world. Portugal and Uruguay have legalized all forms of recreational drugs.
Him's activity helped essentially (in the meaning that without it everything was impossible to exist) this market which create disease and distress in thousand and thousand (maybe more) people. I have only a question: Why FBI can make such thing mentioned by you in your post if only the above things mentioned by me in this post are enough to condemn Ross Ulbricht lifetime in prison? Why needed such invention, such action from FBI?
The FBI want to scare away all future online drug marketeers. So they made an example out of Ross.