There’s quite a bit developing on the legal front of bitcoin. Just this week, it was reported that former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem and co-conspirator Robert Faiella had agreed to forfeit $950,000 as part of plea deals.
We’re now learning that the alleged founder of the illicit Silk Road marketplace has pleaded not guilty to most recent charges pressed against him, according to Forbes.
This news comes just over two weeks following reports indicating that a new indictment was filed, with the addition of narcotics trafficking charges, distribution of narcotics via the Internet, and conspiracy to traffic in fraudulent identification documents.
Mr. Ulbricht’s lawyer, Joshua Dratel, confirmed the news with Forbes.
[blockquote style=”2″]Pleading not guilty today was consistent [with] my client’s stance from the beginning of the case […] This Superseding Indictment changes nothing.[/blockquote]
Ross Ulbricht was arrested in late 2013 in an elaborate undercover operation. In addition to his arrest, federal authorities seized millions of dollars worth of bitcoins stored on Silk Road servers. Just about one month following the take-down of Silk Road, another iteration of the website sprouted on the deep web.
Ulbricht maintains his innocence.
The Ulbricht family also firmly believes that Ross is innocent, launching a website, FreeRoss.org, in order to collect donations for his legal fund.
Mr. Ulbricht’s trial is scheduled to commence on the 3rd of November in New York.
