Hi guys,
Happy weekend to you all.
I saw this hasn't been posted here yet and thought it was vaguely interesting.
Carl Force IV's lawyer talks about Ulbricht's appeal and the fact that during his client's trial they raised the issue of mental health playing a factor in his actions vis a vis Silk Road thefts.
I've often thought that Ulbricht suffered a nervous breakdown in the final year that Silk Road was online, but that element has never been explored, and of course Gary Davis is using depression and (was it Aspergers?) as a reason for him not to be extradited from Ireland to the US.
Force being in hospital rather than prison is likely for his own protection a la kiddy fiddlers, surely?
Anyway here's a copy and paste of the quotes:
As Ross Ulbricht seeks a new trial, citing the actions of federal agents Carl Mark Force IV and Shaun Bridges, a lawyer close to the case does not see much hope for the convicted Silk Road administrator.
Ulbricht Appeal will Likely be Unsuccessful
Ivan bates, the lawyer for Carl Mark Force IV, does not believe the actions of his client during the Silk Road investigation means Ulbricht will be freed.
“I don’t really see the major implications for Ross Ulbricht,” he said. “It’s just one of those situations. I know how the government tends to do their cases, they build their evidence well. There was probably more evidence than what’s even known.” Bates sympathizes with Force, who he believes had too much on his plate during the course of the Silk Road investigation.
“One of the things I talked about in court is you see a man that has given so much for his country and his family,” he said. “One of the issues we have to understand is mental health issues are very real. Carl’s issues basically played such a major role in what happened to him.” The government knew about Force’s past, yet still put him in a very stressful situation.
“I feel the government also played a role in terms of not properly placing him in a position for him to be successful in terms of his mental health issues,” Bates said. “The criminal justice system looks the other way when it comes to mental health issues.” Force faced his own trial, and will serve six-and-a-half years in prison. In some ways, this was a relief.
“One of the things we’re happy about is their recommendation that Carl would go to a hospital on the federal side to deal with his mental issues so he can get those under control and move on with his family,” he said. “But, that was merely the recommendation of the court. You’d have to speak with the Bureau of Prisons to truly answer that.” According to Bates, Force was a remorseful individual.
“He was struggling with his own issues and it was very sad to me, because you could tell that he had been in a number of positions in his career that caused a great deal of stress and I wish they had paid more attention to him,” the lawyer said. “You don’t just forget these individuals when you put them in stressful situations, because you never know how it will affect their mental health.”
His lawyer sounds a bit out of touch with reality at the end there. Is he really saying all FBI agents shouldn't be put in stressful situations
just in case it causes mental health issues?
Fuck that twat Force - he deserves a far bigger whack of time in prison than he received. He was put in a position of trust and betrayed it knowing fully the risks and he knowingly did all kinds of awful shit.
I loathe those who abuse their positions of power - and public trust - for financial gain. Bent cops, Federal agents, crooked politicians, etc. make my skin crawl and are
far worse than those who are just straight up criminals.
Ditto Jared/cirrus. He knowingly administrated not one but
two darkweb websites for at least 2 years - knowing full well that kids would be spiking OD's from the various class A drugs which he allowed the sale of. I wish Dratel had gone there with him when he was on the stand during Ulbricht's trial and said that he and the US government were equally responsible as Ulbricht for the deaths of the kids whose parents were dragged into court because they kept the site online for so long to maximise the amount of arrests.
They could have shut down the site and then gone through it all and prosecuted with what they had, but no, they kept the site going for as long as they could with both SR1 and 2.
Scumbags.
They can't have their cake and eat it from a placing blame for a drug overdose from a Silk Road purchase on someone's shoulders point of view.
Honestly this entire trial makes me sick.
The US and what passes for justice there is a complete and utter farce. It's possibly not quite as bad as some third world countries, but it's getting there in terms of abuses of power and unfair trials.
How dare they put someone like Ross in prison FOR LIFE and yet the crooked agent investigating his case, stealing and even selling counter-intelligence secrets gets less than a decade. It's so disgusting. I think if Force got 6.5 years, Ulbricht should have been given no more than ten.
<rant over>
If men didn't have willies to wave the world would be a lot more sane place...
I hear drugs are popular amongst the rich and famous.
. He had a lot of plates spinning, and was probably only caught cos of greed (trying to sell the coins, wasn't it?). He should have sat on those coins. He obviously took his opsec advice from DPR. The evidence (logs) were destroyed after his trial, no? So many why's. I hope Clark has a good lawyer.