Ross Ulbricht's family are now appealing for donations to support his reintegration into society Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is now a free man after US President Donald Trump made good on his promise to issue a federal pardon upon taking office.

In 2015, a 31-year-old yoga enthusiast from Austin named Ross Ulbricht was found guilty of being the online drug kingpin “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Convicted on 7 counts, the judge sentenced him to life in prison. Trump pardoned Ulbricht on Tuesday and now he’s a free man after more than 10 years in custody.

Ross Ulbricht is free, but unproven allegations against the Silk Road founder overshadow his well deserved pardon in some corners of the internet.

Law enforcement said Ulbricht created the “most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace” on the internet.

Ulbricht, 40, was about 10 years into his life sentence for helming an online black market where drug dealers, money launderers, and traffickers used bitcoins to mask more than $214 million in illicit trades. (Ars thoroughly documented the Silk Road saga here .)

President Donald Trump pardoned the founder of darknet marketplace Silk Road, he said in a post to Truth Social on Tuesday night.

Trump announced that he signed a full pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who was sentenced to life in prison.

Ulbricht, 40, had been serving a life sentence on federal drug trafficking charges for setting up the illegal website.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace where drug dealers and others conducted more than $200 million in illicit trade using bitcoin.

President Donald Trump has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an underground website for selling drugs