16 ms·

Plus, it happened multiple times. Even if no one was actually killed the guy still tried to have multiple people killed.

thornofmight 11y ago
The person Ross hired as a hitman was an undercover agent who had been befriending Ross online for over a year.
- Retric 11y ago
  This may have qualified as entrapment which could be why he was not brought up on charges for this. Still, IMO it is reasonable to bring that up as a character issue.
  - 542458 11y ago
    How would that be entrapment? The police have to remove your ability to make a choice for it to be entrapment. http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/19810672629/12-i-was-entrapped http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/19810672629/12-i-wa...
    - Retric 11y ago
      They don't have to remove your choice. They need to significantly change your mind. Basically, if the undercover cop suggests X and you say no. Then come on nobody will know, and you say no. And then they spend the next six weeks convincing you it's a good idea, then that's entrapment. The issue is he was on a sting for over a year and that's plenty of time to cross the line. Of note, asking several times and catching someone at a moment of weakness is not entrapment. So, if you have been clean for 10 years then you’re out of luck.
  - omegaham 11y ago
    I don't think that qualifies as entrapment. In general, entrapment is when the police convince you to commit a crime that you wouldn't have committed otherwise. So, if you want to kill your wife, and your friend (FBI agent) happens to say one day, "Hey, I do a little killing on the side, just for gits and shiggles," and you hire him, that's not entrapment. In contrast, if the agent is manipulating you and saying, "Hey, your wife is going to divorce you and take your stuff. Killing her is the only way to prevent ruin" and slowly convincing you to do it, then that's entrapment. Bottom line: Already predisposed to doing the crime and probably would have gone through with it if it hadn't been the police? You're screwed. In contrast, if you're normally completely innocent and the person has to convince you to commit the crime, it's entrapment.
    - Retric 11y ago
      I completely agree, the point is a 1 year sting is plenty of time for someone to cross the line, and they did not bring the charges up for some reason, so it’s a possibility. I suspect it's more likely they wanted to convict him on just the SR charges because that's better publicity, but it’s still odd.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- cwyers 11y ago
  Did he know that?
- haroldp 11y ago
  Not only that, but the officer making that allegation has subsequently been charged with embezzling bitcoins from The Silk Road.
- arikrak 11y ago
  That was one case, but he also seemed to have hired another hitman who pretended to kill multiple people. He seemed to have been addicted to hiring hitmen, eventually it probably would have led to actual murders.
deweller 11y ago
allegedly tried to have multiple people killed. The prosecution brought this up at trial but he was not charged or convicted of this in the criminal trial.
- zanny 11y ago
  This is the key point. He is going to spend the rest of his life in prison, pretty much, for running a website. Not for hurting anyone, not for even threatening to kill anyone - those charges weren't a part of his conviction - but simply by enabling the exchange of drugs he apparently should be locked away forever. Go Team 'Murica....
  - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
    He didn't just "enable the exchange of drugs". He knowingly hid that he did so, and made bucketloads of money off it.
    - psykovsky 11y ago
      What are those bucketloads worth when the only time you get to spend them are when you buy assassinations from dirty undercover DEA agents?
  - tzs 11y ago
    Are you implying drugs don't hurt anyone? Even the most ardent proponent of full legalization usually acknowledges that many drugs are very harmful--they just believe the people should be free to do things even if they are harmful to themselves. I generally support decriminalization or even legalization, but I would be reluctant to allow internet sales. I'd require sales to be through licensed dealers and in person, so that an addict cannot completely cut themselves off from human contact. Internet sales make drugs too easy.
    - fleitz 11y ago
      No more than water does. Even as a proponent of full legalization I know that as little as a few minutes spent in water can kill someone, and often does. Why people are allowed to casually dive into this toxic substance is beyond me. No licenses, no regulations, practically any body of water you can find you're allowed to jump into totally unsupervised. Most places don't even have signs warning people of the danger, and worst yet, many children practice a dangerous activity called 'swimming' in this substance often daring each other as to who can drop the highest from a rope into a potentially fatal body of water. Also, once you start drinking it you need to find at least 4 litres of this a day to keep from going into water withdrawl, commonly known as dehydration, this can happen in as little as 3 days with out your daily fix.
cnp 11y ago
This has not been proven
Tloewald 11y ago
The guy he tried to kill was a corrupt law enforcement officer who was stealing from him. If the same trick were deliberately pulled by law enforcement surely the defense could argue entrapment. It's ironic at minimum.

thornofmight 11y ago

The person Ross hired as a hitman was an undercover agent who had been befriending Ross online for over a year.

Retric 11y ago
This may have qualified as entrapment which could be why he was not brought up on charges for this. Still, IMO it is reasonable to bring that up as a character issue.
- 542458 11y ago
  How would that be entrapment? The police have to remove your ability to make a choice for it to be entrapment. http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/19810672629/12-i-was-entrapped http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/19810672629/12-i-wa...
  - Retric 11y ago
    They don't have to remove your choice. They need to significantly change your mind. Basically, if the undercover cop suggests X and you say no. Then come on nobody will know, and you say no. And then they spend the next six weeks convincing you it's a good idea, then that's entrapment. The issue is he was on a sting for over a year and that's plenty of time to cross the line. Of note, asking several times and catching someone at a moment of weakness is not entrapment. So, if you have been clean for 10 years then you’re out of luck.
- omegaham 11y ago
  I don't think that qualifies as entrapment. In general, entrapment is when the police convince you to commit a crime that you wouldn't have committed otherwise. So, if you want to kill your wife, and your friend (FBI agent) happens to say one day, "Hey, I do a little killing on the side, just for gits and shiggles," and you hire him, that's not entrapment. In contrast, if the agent is manipulating you and saying, "Hey, your wife is going to divorce you and take your stuff. Killing her is the only way to prevent ruin" and slowly convincing you to do it, then that's entrapment. Bottom line: Already predisposed to doing the crime and probably would have gone through with it if it hadn't been the police? You're screwed. In contrast, if you're normally completely innocent and the person has to convince you to commit the crime, it's entrapment.
  - Retric 11y ago
    I completely agree, the point is a 1 year sting is plenty of time for someone to cross the line, and they did not bring the charges up for some reason, so it’s a possibility. I suspect it's more likely they wanted to convict him on just the SR charges because that's better publicity, but it’s still odd.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
cwyers 11y ago
Did he know that?
haroldp 11y ago
Not only that, but the officer making that allegation has subsequently been charged with embezzling bitcoins from The Silk Road.
arikrak 11y ago
That was one case, but he also seemed to have hired another hitman who pretended to kill multiple people. He seemed to have been addicted to hiring hitmen, eventually it probably would have led to actual murders.

deweller 11y ago

allegedly tried to have multiple people killed. The prosecution brought this up at trial but he was not charged or convicted of this in the criminal trial.

zanny 11y ago
This is the key point. He is going to spend the rest of his life in prison, pretty much, for running a website. Not for hurting anyone, not for even threatening to kill anyone - those charges weren't a part of his conviction - but simply by enabling the exchange of drugs he apparently should be locked away forever. Go Team 'Murica....
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
  He didn't just "enable the exchange of drugs". He knowingly hid that he did so, and made bucketloads of money off it.
  - psykovsky 11y ago
    What are those bucketloads worth when the only time you get to spend them are when you buy assassinations from dirty undercover DEA agents?
- tzs 11y ago
  Are you implying drugs don't hurt anyone? Even the most ardent proponent of full legalization usually acknowledges that many drugs are very harmful--they just believe the people should be free to do things even if they are harmful to themselves. I generally support decriminalization or even legalization, but I would be reluctant to allow internet sales. I'd require sales to be through licensed dealers and in person, so that an addict cannot completely cut themselves off from human contact. Internet sales make drugs too easy.
  - fleitz 11y ago
    No more than water does. Even as a proponent of full legalization I know that as little as a few minutes spent in water can kill someone, and often does. Why people are allowed to casually dive into this toxic substance is beyond me. No licenses, no regulations, practically any body of water you can find you're allowed to jump into totally unsupervised. Most places don't even have signs warning people of the danger, and worst yet, many children practice a dangerous activity called 'swimming' in this substance often daring each other as to who can drop the highest from a rope into a potentially fatal body of water. Also, once you start drinking it you need to find at least 4 litres of this a day to keep from going into water withdrawl, commonly known as dehydration, this can happen in as little as 3 days with out your daily fix.

cnp 11y ago

This has not been proven

Tloewald 11y ago

The guy he tried to kill was a corrupt law enforcement officer who was stealing from him. If the same trick were deliberately pulled by law enforcement surely the defense could argue entrapment. It's ironic at minimum.