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> But given that no-one seems to seriously dispute that he did try to pay to have the guy killed If there was enough evidence to demonstrate that he attempted

> But given that no-one seems to seriously dispute that he did try to pay to have the guy killed If there was enough evidence to demonstrate that he attempted to murder someone, why wasn't he charged and convicted of it? Also, 2 of the DEA agents involved in his investigation were convicted of fraud in relation to the case. I do believe he probably did attempt to have someone killed, but I'm far from certain of it, and think it should have no bearing on the case if there's not enough evidence to convict him.

chrisco255 2y ago
I don't think he did. The guy who he allegedly ordered a hit on doesn't believe it and argued for Ross's release.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ddorian43 2y ago
  Reminds me of some story where a woman petitioned for the killer of her relative to be released, and after release the killer killed that woman.
  - chrisco255 2y ago
    Strange because it reminds me of some story where an innocent man was framed for murder and a compassionate relative of the murder victim argued for their release and the innocent man went on to live a productive and happy life.
    - ddorian43 2y ago
      It was this: https://old.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1id70an/til_i_learned_about_travis_lewis_a_man_who_killed/ https://old.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1id70an/til_... https://people.com/crime/inside-the-bizarre-case-of-a-killer-striking-twice-23-years-apart-murdering-a-mother-and-daughter/ https://people.com/crime/inside-the-bizarre-case-of-a-killer...
- GTP 2y ago
  This might be a case of conflict of interest though, as saying instead that Ulbricht did ask him to kill someone could worsen the legal position of the alleged hitman as well, depending on the specific circumstances of the case.
fogof 2y ago
> If there was enough evidence to demonstrate that he attempted to murder someone, why wasn't he charged and convicted of it? Wikipedia suggests this was because he was already sentenced to double life imprisonment. Clearly prosecutors should not waste time pursuing charges that won't really impact a criminal's status, do you disagree? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht#Trial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht#Trial
- AnthonyMouse 2y ago
  If they don't "waste time pursuing charges that won't really impact" the sentence then the unproven allegations should not be allowed to impact the sentence. You can't have it both ways.
  - formerly_proven 2y ago
    You keep claiming these are unproven allegations despite this being demonstrably untrue and others repeatedly pointing that out all over this thread.
    - AnthonyMouse 2y ago
      They're unproven allegations because "proven allegations" mean something specific, i.e. that it was charged as a count and the jury rendered a verdict of guilty. This is especially important when it's not at all clear they could have proven it as a separate count, because those allegations were tainted by significant law enforcement credibility issues.
  - tzs 2y ago
    What a lot of people are overlooking is that there were two separate indictments in two separate courts with two separate prosecution teams. In one indictment, in a New York federal court, he was charged with several crimes, but not murder-for-hire. In the other indictment, in a Maryland federal court, he was charged just with murder-for-hire. The case in New York went to trial first. The murder-for-hire evidence was introduced in that court as part of trying to prove some of the elements of the other charges. For example to prove a charge of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise one of the elements is that the person occupied "a position of organizer, a supervisory position, or any other position of management". Evidence that a person is trying to hire hitmen to protect the enterprise is evidence that they occupy such a role. After the convictions and sentencing in the New York trial were upheld on appeal, the prosecutors in Maryland dropped their case because he was then in jail, for life, with no possibility of parole. They said it was a better use of resources to focus on cases where justice had not yet been served.

chrisco255 2y ago

I don't think he did. The guy who he allegedly ordered a hit on doesn't believe it and argued for Ross's release.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ddorian43 2y ago
Reminds me of some story where a woman petitioned for the killer of her relative to be released, and after release the killer killed that woman.
- chrisco255 2y ago
  Strange because it reminds me of some story where an innocent man was framed for murder and a compassionate relative of the murder victim argued for their release and the innocent man went on to live a productive and happy life.
  - ddorian43 2y ago
    It was this: https://old.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1id70an/til_i_learned_about_travis_lewis_a_man_who_killed/ https://old.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1id70an/til_... https://people.com/crime/inside-the-bizarre-case-of-a-killer-striking-twice-23-years-apart-murdering-a-mother-and-daughter/ https://people.com/crime/inside-the-bizarre-case-of-a-killer...
GTP 2y ago
This might be a case of conflict of interest though, as saying instead that Ulbricht did ask him to kill someone could worsen the legal position of the alleged hitman as well, depending on the specific circumstances of the case.

fogof 2y ago

> If there was enough evidence to demonstrate that he attempted to murder someone, why wasn't he charged and convicted of it? Wikipedia suggests this was because he was already sentenced to double life imprisonment. Clearly prosecutors should not waste time pursuing charges that won't really impact a criminal's status, do you disagree? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht#Trial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht#Trial

AnthonyMouse 2y ago
If they don't "waste time pursuing charges that won't really impact" the sentence then the unproven allegations should not be allowed to impact the sentence. You can't have it both ways.
- formerly_proven 2y ago
  You keep claiming these are unproven allegations despite this being demonstrably untrue and others repeatedly pointing that out all over this thread.
  - AnthonyMouse 2y ago
    They're unproven allegations because "proven allegations" mean something specific, i.e. that it was charged as a count and the jury rendered a verdict of guilty. This is especially important when it's not at all clear they could have proven it as a separate count, because those allegations were tainted by significant law enforcement credibility issues.
- tzs 2y ago
  What a lot of people are overlooking is that there were two separate indictments in two separate courts with two separate prosecution teams. In one indictment, in a New York federal court, he was charged with several crimes, but not murder-for-hire. In the other indictment, in a Maryland federal court, he was charged just with murder-for-hire. The case in New York went to trial first. The murder-for-hire evidence was introduced in that court as part of trying to prove some of the elements of the other charges. For example to prove a charge of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise one of the elements is that the person occupied "a position of organizer, a supervisory position, or any other position of management". Evidence that a person is trying to hire hitmen to protect the enterprise is evidence that they occupy such a role. After the convictions and sentencing in the New York trial were upheld on appeal, the prosecutors in Maryland dropped their case because he was then in jail, for life, with no possibility of parole. They said it was a better use of resources to focus on cases where justice had not yet been served.