Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 in New York on charges of narcotics and money laundering conspiracy and was sentenced to life in prison.
Trump announced the pardon on his Truth Social platform, stating that he had called Ulbricht's mother to inform her of the decision. "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern-day weaponisation of government against me," Trump said.
"He was given two life sentences plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"
For those who came in late, Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 following Ulbricht's arrest, facilitated the sale of illegal drugs using Bitcoin, as well as hacking equipment and stolen passports.
Ulbricht, who operated under the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking.
During his trial, prosecutors revealed that Ulbricht's website, hosted on the hidden "dark web," sold more than $200 million worth of drugs anonymously. They alleged that Ulbricht had solicited six murders-for-hire, including one against a former Silk Road employee, though no evidence was found that any killings were carried out.
Users could only access the Silk Road site through Tor, a system that allows anonymous web browsing. Court documents from the FBI indicated that the site had just under a million registered users, though the number of active users was unknown.
District Judge Katherine Forrest, who sentenced Ulbricht, described him as "no better a person than any other drug dealer" and noted that the lengthy sentence was intended to serve as a deterrent to potential copycats.
"I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity," Ulbricht said at his sentencing in May 2015.
Trump had previously hinted at commuting Ulbricht's sentence during a speech at the Libertarian National Convention last year. The Libertarian party had advocated for Ulbricht's release, citing his case as an example of government overreach.
