Death Arrived That Day. But Ross Ulbricht Had Other Plans…Eventually
He’s not angry about his incarceration. Instead he uses his talent to ‘spin straw into gold’. Money made is used to help the overlooked casualties of a blinkered prison system, CHILDREN…
I received this email today.
From Ross.
He writes, “I turned 38 yesterday, my 9th birthday in prison. I made a timeline of my life, with my death estimated at 80 years old. Prison has been a major phase of my life so far. I’m not the man I was when I came in. I’ve learned from my mistakes and the harm I’ve caused.” — Ross Ulbricht
If you don’t already know Ross Ulbricht he is a fellow writer on Medium.
He’s also in prison for life!
That being the case, I suspect that everything he writes is heavily-scrutinized, as might be any comments made on his posts by fellow writers.
About Ross
‘On May 29, 2015, Ross Ulbricht, a first-time offender, was sentenced to double life plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole, based on five non-violent charges.[1] He was never prosecuted for causing harm or bodily injury. No victim was named at trial.
‘Ross was not condemned to die in prison for actually selling drugs, hacking software or fake IDs, nor did he launder money either. Rather, he was held responsible for what others listed on the platform, despite established laws protecting providers from liability for their users’ content.
‘Below are the five nonviolent charges Ross was sentenced for:
– Aiding and abetting/distribution of narcotics by means of the internet [2]
‘Range: 10 years to life. Ross sentenced to life without parole.
‘Note: The prosecution charged that Ross “delivered, distributed, and dispensed” 1kg or more of heroin, 5kg or more of cocaine, 500g or more of meth and 10g or more of LSD, yet, no evidence was presented to support this, only that others did so through Silk Road.’
‘All these sentencing counts are non-violent. An untouched Maryland indictment included unproven, false allegations of planning murder-for-hire, yet it was never prosecuted and later dismissed “with prejudice” by a U.S. judge.’
So effectively one could say that at 38, Ross has spent nearly a quarter of his life in prison, yet has committed no violent crime.
Here is a copy of the letter he wrote the the judge presiding over his sentence, prior to the actual trial. This speaks of a young man who accepts he may have to atone for his perceived crime, but asking to be understood.
I wrote this story about Ross last year.
I was truly disturbed that a young man who clearly had made a mistake, would now languish in prison, never to be released.
Those last four words, never to be released, conjure up the picture of a hardened criminal.
Ross is no hardened criminal, yet he is in jail for life.
Could this happen to us?
I doubt we ever think how close we ourselves could come to being incarcerated.
“And yet, we are all but one step away from imprisonment.
“If you’ve ever driven home drunk, and been lucky enough not to mow down and kill a fellow citizen, you were only a happenstance away from imprisonment.
“If you’ve quietly indulged in drugs, and then taken it a step too far and started dealing, whether you smack yourself on the head and stop, you too have been close to losing your freedom.
“The right set of circumstances can permanently alter the trajectory of our lives and we could so easily find ourselves tasting prison’s reality.”
Ross has had nine years to accept the reality that he may well spend the rest of his life in prison.
Still, he’s not sitting on his rear end feeling sorry for himself. Instead he is championing the cause of absolute casualties in the wider prison system equation, that is, children.
Ross comes from a line of talented artists and in recent times has begun to use this talent. Wasn’t it John Lennon who said: There’s nowhere you can be that you weren’t meant to be?
As Ross became resolute about his long stay in prison, he also resurrected his drawing skills. As he drew, and improved, others became interested, and someone suggested he sell his art as NFTs.
He had never heard of such.
But he was interested.
And so, after researching, was born his story, in art form.
Though his life story looks bleak at the moment, he now has an avenue to brighten the days of children who are in so many ways imprisoned through no fault of their own!
What a magnanimous human being!
Ross’ reflection of death is well worth a read. By many standards he is still young, yet he sees death from so many angles, one I will personally reflect on.
‘Marcus Aurelius, the emperor and stoic, wrote: “Imagine you are dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.” No one makes it out alive. In the end, they put you in a hole in the ground and throw dirt in your face. But having accepted this, the question one must face is “now what?” Will you live this day as if life is just another thing to take for granted? Will you waste it bored and cynical? I never knew just how precious life is until I lost it. When I stop and look at myself, my life, the universe and everything, I am deeply humbled. I am grateful for what little I have left. I am grateful for this very moment.’
For anyone interested in promoting clemency for Ross, please visit this link.
