Ross Ulbricht's Attorney Cites IRS Guidance in Motion to Dismiss Charges
An attorney representing alleged Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht has asked that a federal judge dismiss four charges against his client as part of his ongoing New York indictment. In a 64-page filing submitted to the District Court of the Southern District of New York this weekend, Ulbricht's defence attorney, Joshua Dratel, argues that one count of money laundering, running a criminal enterprise, narcotics conspiracy and conspiracy to commit computer hacking be dismissed, stating that they are vague and do not cover his client's alleged conduct. Perhaps most interestingly, Dratel took....
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New York District Judge Katherine B. Forrest denied a motion to dismiss all counts against alleged Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht in a July 9th filing out of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The news comes a little over three months following reports that indicated Ulbricht's legal counsel had attempted to have all charges against him dropped using a recent IRS guidance on bitcoin. That guidance dictated that for the sake of Federal tax purposes, bitcoin should be treated as property. Ulbricht's attorney, Joshua Dratel, used the guidance to his and....
It would appear as if the legal counsel of alleged Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is using recent IRS guidance (and FinCEN publications) relating to bitcoin to try and get charges against his client dropped. As a brief primer, last week the Internal Revenue Service announced that bitcoins and other cryptocurrency shall be treated as property. As such, the attorney, Joshua Dratel, has argued in a motion that money laundering charges against Ross Ulbricht should be dropped because bitcoin does not qualify as a "money instrument". Bitcoin does not qualify under any prong of that definition.....
Updated with comment from Ross Ulbricht attorney Joshua Dratel. New charges have been filed against Ross Ulbricht, the 30-year-old, Texas native accused of using the alias Dread Pirate Roberts to operate illicit online marketplace Silk Road. Filed on 21st August, the charges include narcotics trafficking, distribution of narcotics by means of the Internet and conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identification documents. The latest development in the case follows news that Ulbricht had lost his bid to dismiss the case this July. Ulbricht's legal team had sought to remove certain money....
Alleged Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht has suffered a setback in his efforts to fight federal narcotics and money laundering charges after a US court rejected his bid to dismiss the suit. Ulbricht's lawyer originally sought to dismiss the charges in late March, citing flaws in the legal definition of money laundering. As well, the dismissal filing challenged allegations that Ulbricht directly conspired with Silk Road users. On 9th July, US District Judge Katherine Forrest rejected the defendant's claims regarding the validity of the charges, saying that there are sufficient grounds for....
Ross Ulbricht's defence team has filed a new pre-trial motion calling on the court to dismiss charges in the Silk Road case on the grounds of Fourth Amendment privacy protections. Ulbricht's lawyers argue the charges should be dismissed due to the nature of the FBI's investigation. In particular, they allege the FBI acted without a valid search warrant when it discovered Silk Road servers in Iceland, and thereby violated Ulbricht's Fourth Amendment rights. The fourth amendment to the US Constitution is a part of the Bill of Rights and prohibits 'unreasonable' searches and seizures. It....