Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, also known by his alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,” participated in a documentary about his arrest and incarceration during his time in federal prison.
In a Jan. 22 notice, filmmakers Blake J. Harris and Jonah Tulis — the duo behind the Console Wars documentary — said they had obtained more than 60 hours of footage containing exclusive interviews with Ulbricht as he served life in prison.
US President Donald Trump commuted the Silk Road founder’s sentence on Jan. 21, prompting his release after roughly 12 years in US custody.
According to Harris, the documentary, currently in post-production and expected to be released in 2025, will cover how Ulbricht “went from being a literal Eagle Scout to the center of a global manhunt.” Tulis suggested the film could help clear up “many misconceptions” about the Silk Road founder and the events leading to his arrest.
Ulbricht created and operated the Silk Road darknet marketplace from 2011 until his 2013 arrest in a San Francisco Public Library. He was subsequently convicted of money laundering, computer hacking and conspiracy to traffic narcotics and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
News outlet CBS aired a documentary on Ulbricht in 2020 featuring an interview with his former girlfriend and FBI agents. Lionsgate also released a fictionalized version of the Silk Road founder’s story in 2021, starring actor Nick Robinson. Though the filmmaking duo Coen Brothers proposed a project based on Ulbricht’s life in 2016, the movie was never produced.
What are Ulbricht’s plans after prison?
Social media users and news outlets shared a photo of the Silk Road founder after his release from the US Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona. At the time of publication, it did not appear as though he had made a public statement on Trump’s commutation of his sentence, nor posted on social media or his blog, which he updated from prison.
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It’s unclear whether Ulbricht intends to become a public figure in the crypto industry following his release. Major industry leaders, including former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, have stepped back from their roles after being in prison — though in CZ’s case, he served his full four-month sentence rather than receiving a presidential pardon.
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