Ross Ulbricht hid the Silk Road behind Tor, Bitcoin and a pirate's name. The site did about $1.2 billion in sales, and federal agents spent two years hitting a wall. Then an IRS agent opened Google.
This true crime documentary follows the whole story: a former Boy Scout from Austin with an idea about freedom, the dark web marketplace he built, the Dread Pirate Roberts, IRS special agent Gary Alford's search for the site's first-ever mentions, the user "altoid", the October 2011 job ad with rossulbricht@gmail.com at the bottom, the undercover agent "Nob" and the staged killing, the October 1, 2013 sting in San Francisco's Glen Park library, the life sentence in 2015 and the presidential pardon in January 2025.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klzRAV0rxT8
More documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondevidence3
Newsletter: https://beyondevidence.substack.com
Chapters:
0:00 The Glen Park library, October 1, 2013
1:25 Who is Ross Ulbricht?
1:56 Tor and Bitcoin
3:13 The Silk Road goes live
4:20 IRS agent Gary Alford joins the hunt
5:23 "Nob" and the murder-for-hire claims
6:40 The job ad and the Gmail address
7:31 The library sting
9:32 What was on the laptop
10:16 Trial and life sentence
10:45 Free Ross and the pardon
Based on the federal criminal complaint, trial testimony and reporting by Wired, the New York Times, the BBC and Ars Technica.
Made with AI-generated visuals.
