Dismissal of Ross Ulbricht Murder-for-Hire Indictment
On July 20, 2018, Robert K. Hur, US Attorney from Maryland, filed a motion for the dismissal of a 2013 three-count indictment against Ross Ulbricht.
“Pursuant to Rule 48(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,” Motion to Dismiss Indictment and Superseding Indictment, a recently released court document, explained, “and by leave of Court endorsed hereon the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland hereby moves to dismiss with prejudice the Indictment and Superseding Indictment pending against the defendant in the above-captioned case.”
United States Attorney for the District of Maryland explained his reasoning in a statement to News.Bitcoin.com, “Mr. Ulbricht’s conviction and life sentence in the case handled by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York have been affirmed BY the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case. We have dismissed the federal charges based on the same conduct pending against Mr. Ulbricht in Maryland, which allows us to direct our resources to other cases where justice has not yet been served.”
Public Affairs Specialist Marcia Murphy, a nearly two decades veteran, was the one answering all phone calls to the Maryland US Attorney’s office. She mentioned being unaware that Attorney Hur had filed a motion to dismiss the 2013 indictment, even though she is familiar with Mr. Ulbricht’s high profile prosecution.
She chose not to make any comment when asked if the motion had any relevant meaning for Mr. Ulbricht’s ultimate guilt or innocence, she rather stipulated that Mr. Ulbricht had been convicted already, and that there was “nothing to be found” when looking at 2013, twelve-page indictment that was brought against him by the Attorney at that period, Mr. Rod Rosentein (who is now a Deputy Attorney General, appointed by President Trump in 2017).
“District overlap” is the type of phrase she used. By so doing she made the motion looking more like a formality than an exoneration. She told news.Bitcoin.com that “You wouldn’t be wrong” when asked if the motion could instead be an administrative way of clearing legal calendars rather than a legally significant filing.
Mr. Ulbricht Tweet, “Just found out the govt moved to drop the case against me in Maryland. What a huge weight off my shoulders that will be” showed how relieved he seemed to have been in the Colorado federal prison, where he is serving a life sentence without parole.
It is important to note that his twitter account is being maintained by family and supporters.
