Ross Ulbricht, 30, was convicted on all charges he had faced at Manhattan district court and is currently facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. A jury returned a guilty verdict at the end of a 1-month trial on the Silk Road site operation.

Ulbricht’s defense team tried to convince the jury that while he did launch the site under the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, the real operator of the online black market was Mark Karpelès, the founder of the infamous Bitcoin exchange MtGox.However, the prosecution revealed Ulbricht’s personal journals and his Bitcoin wallet containing millions of dollars, which proved his guilt.

The Silk Road operator was arrested in San Francisco more than a year agoafter the US law enforcement authorities shutdown the illegal online marketplace. It is known that the website could procure anything from LSD to ecstasy pills, and the users could leave reviews and give star ratings to the dealers.

It took the jury of 6 men and 6women about3 hours to deliberate. Asfor Ulbricht, he turned toward his supporters and raised his hand when he was led from the court.
He had conceded that he created Silk Road, but then handed it to other operators before being lured back. His lawyers had tried to claim that someone else had been operating Silk Road, such as Mark Karpelès. The latter, however, was never charged and has denied involvement.Now the site operator faces up to life in prison and a minimum term of 20 years. He will be sentenced in May, although he is going to appeal the decision