If you watch the Documentary on him and the Silk Road Website, he is nothing what you picture as a big time drug dealer who got caught and sentenced to life in prison.....
He was a tall attractive brilliant person, he had a degree in Physics and a Masters in Material Science...
He went by the name of “Dread Pirate Roberts” from novel The Princess Bride.....
he was involved in a few businesses that eventually failed but was attracted to Dark Web, Crypto Currency and the Anonymity it allowed and basically took over the site from a previous owner and really expanded it...
Did he break a bunch of laws, YES, but he believed in 100% total economic freedom to do anything he wanted which included the trading of every narcotic out there....among other things....
Besides the drug dealing his other big mistake was flaunting it and basically saying he would never be caught....which only emboldened the Feds....
Ross Ulbricht is a murderous drug dealer. Anyone who doubts it can read the trial transcript (which is online) and/or this book:
American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road