The closure of Silk Road followed by Ross Ulbricht’s arrest and conviction has been one of the high-profile cases in the history of Bitcoin. The involvement of corrupt agents in the investigation created a backlash to the agencies involved in the Silk Road investigation namely, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the US Secret Service. After two agents, Carl Force (DEA) and Shawn Bridges (Secret Service) were found guilty of extortion and money laundering, an involvement of another agent is now being suspected.
According to reports, the attorneys of Ross Ulbricht aka Dread Pirate Roberts have uncovered the potential involvement of an unnamed law enforcement official in tampering evidence belonging to the case. The new piece of information was made available during a press conference held on November 29, 2016, after new chat logs were discovered. The officer, going by the screen name “albertpacino”, “alpacino” and “notwonderful” had allegedly contacted Dread Pirate Roberts, offering information about the ongoing investigation into Silk Road. In exchange for the information, “albertpacino” had demanded weekly payments of $500 in bitcoin.
The defense team, which has been questioning the validity of the trial and the severity of Ross’ sentence believes that the law enforcement agencies deliberately suppressed the evidence. The case of evidence tampering by government officials has raised questions about the integrity of the whole Silk Road investigation. While the offer made by “albertpacino” is similar to the one made by Carl Force, the lawyers believe that both are different individuals as the name was dropped off the list of aliases used by Force during the process.
The defense team has also brought up the possible presence of another real Dread Pirate Roberts. The possibility surfaced after a forensic investigation into Silk Road forums indicated that someone had used the account while Ross Ulbricht was in federal custody. The defense team has announced that they will continue digging through the evidence to uncover the truth.
These new information titbits have started to give credence to the belief that both the law enforcement agencies and the court overreached to make an example out of Ross Ulbricht. As doubts pile up, any solid evidence unearthed can be used to apply for a new trial motion.
Ref: DeepDotWeb | Image: Rolling Stone