Ross Ulbricht, the alleged operator of the Silk Road online black market, is hinging his defense on his claim that the FBI violated his 4th amendment rights when they investigated his case.
Specifically, they raided Silk Road’s servers without a search warrant. If Ulbricht’s defense can prove this fact, all charges against him must be dropped.
However, the FBI has released information on how it gathered the evidence against Ulbricht in a 58-page document submitted to the court. It offers a rebuttal to Ulbricht’s claims, in essence stating that the methods they used were entirely within the scope of the law.
In the document, they outline four major points, the most important being that “All of Ulbricht’s suppression arguments are meritless and should be denied”, under which they outline numerous reasons. They claimed they lawfully located the Silk Road’s server, and that a warrant was not required for its search because it was searched by foreign law enforcement officials to whom the Fourth Amendment isn’t relevant.
But even if they were subject to the Fourth Amendment, the document claims, the search was “reasonable” and didn’t need a warrant to be executed.
They go into more detail on these and other points as well.
The court has yet to make a decision on this matter.
Ulbricht In Hot Water
This is the second time Ulbricht’s defense team has attempted to dismiss the charges made against him. In April, they made the case that since Bitcoin was considered property, and not money, by the US government, he couldn’t be charged with money laundering.
The judge denied him this bid though, claiming that even if Bitcoin isn’t considered money, it still holds monetary value and can be used to launder money.
Ulbricht’s trial is set to begin on November 3rd of this year.
FBI Denies Ross Ulbricht's Claim They Violated His 4th Amendment Rights
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