While Ross Ulbricht’s defense team prepares for its appeal, notable figures in Bitcoin are donating to his cause by offering goods and services you can bid on now, and if you are in the Austin area, you can enjoy a show featuring live music, free beer and pizza and a screening of the Deep Web Documentary with director Alex Winters.
Ross Ulbricht was found guilty of running the underground marketplace known as the Silk Road earlier this year. However, the defense contends that evidence was suppressed and he did not receive a fair trial. Among the complaints was that Ulbricht’s defense attorney’s cross examinations of witnesses were severely limited and they were prevented from calling witnesses that would have cast doubt on the government’s story on how it found the Silk Road’s servers. Worse, the defense was also prevented from mentioning the well documented and admitted corrupt actions taken by two key investigators on the case.
Many also felt that the life sentence was too harsh, and both the verdict and sentence are being appealed.
While the fight for Ulbricht’s release is ongoing, the legal fees for his family are building up, hence the auction. There are currently more than 23 different items up for bid, including a weeks stay at a bamboo constructed house in Costa Rica courtesy of Ulbricht’s parents Lyn and Kirk, a signed version of Cody Wilson’s CNC GhostGunner machine (designed specifically to create AR-15 lower receivers) advertising on Roger Ver’s Memory Dealers and a BluRay copy of the documentary Deep Dot Web signed by director Alex Winters.
Of course, readers simply wanting to help, can always donate to the FreeRoss dedicated bitcoin donation address at 1Ross5Np5doy4ajF9iGXzgKaC2Q3Pwwxv they also accept other forms of payment.
The defense fund has released a hand written letter from Ross Ulbricht, thanking and rallying his supporters. It reads in part:
“They fought tooth and nail trying to secure my conviction, but went way too far suppressing all of the evidence that contradicts their story. Now it is our turn to pull out the stops and show exactly what was done, so the wrongs can be set right, and this terrifying precident[sic] can be rolled back. [. . .] I will always stand with you for freedom.”
The Crpyto show is a talk radio show that airs in Austin Texas daily from 8 – 10pm CST on 90.1 and 89.1 FM. It is hosted by Harlan Dietrich who also opened up the libertarian themed bookshop Brave New Books, which will be hosting the in-person fund raiser tonight from 4 to 10pm at Brave New Books is located at 1904 Guadalupe Street Austin, Texas. The auction will continue online until all of the items are sold.
The fundraiser has been going on since June 18 and has hopes of raising $10,000.
We will keep you up to date on Ross Ulbricht’s appeal as it progresses.