I mean.. he was convicted for creating and operating an online black market that facilitated illegal activities such as drug trafficking, hacking tools, and other criminal enterprises. The evidence presented during his trial demonstrated that he knowingly enabled illegal transactions, contributing to drug addiction, violence, and above all else the solicitation of murder. Ulbricht's platform provided a haven for criminal activities, undermining public safety and the rule of law. While some argue for the libertarian ideals he claimed to champion, the undeniable reality is that the Silk Road facilitated a wide range of illegal and harmful activities.
It may be an unpopular opinion here on this forum..but Ross is a criminal.
Truth.
Personally, I'm not sure if his life sentence is justified. But dude operated a website allowing very illegal activities. His guilt was pretty damn cut and dry. It's not like he was just running a legal marketplace and people secretly used his website for illegal stuff. He knowingly built it for that illegal things.
As to that being an unpopular opinion...anyone thinking that either doesn't think we should have laws or is so blinded by bitcoin that they can't see straight when talking about anything related to Bitcoin. Criminals who use Bitcoin to do criminal things are still criminals, obviously.