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Silk Road Employee Who Dread Pirate Roberts Tried To Kill Comes Forward

from the not-quite-what-you'd-expect dept

Fri, Nov 8th 2013 12:20pm — Mike Masnick

When the feds arrested Ross Ulbricht saying that he was the Dread Pirate Roberts who had created and run Silk Road, the dark web e-commerce site for all sorts of illegal products, we noted that there were actually two cases filed against Ulbricht, with the second one involving some really crazy claims of Ulbricht's attempt to hire someone to kill a Silk Road employee. Of course, the "hit man" he hired was actually an undercover agent, leading to a bizarre operation in which the Silk Road employee's death was faked, complete with bloody photos. More details have now come out as the employee, Curtis Clark Green, has released a statement providing some details. Believe it or not, this Silk Road employee is a 47-year-old grandfather whose day job is working "at a non-profit dedicated to helping people with learning disabilities." Not exactly what most people probably expected.

In the statement, he notes that he was basically a customer service person for Silk Road, helping out when there were problems and also keeping an eye out for potential fraud and/or law enforcement activity to report to Ulbricht, whose name and identity he never knew. He insists that he "never used illegal drugs and I never intended to be directly involved in illegal drug deals," but it does appear that he does admit to the basic claims that were in that indictment against Ulbricht: that he "helped" a drug dealer (who turned out to be an undercover agent) by agreeing to receive a large amount of cocaine. That resulted in his arrest, which in turn lead to Ulbricht trying to have him killed, claiming money was stolen. Green insists no money was actually stolen.

Once again, it seems like the real story may be even more fascinating than anything Hollywood could make up.

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Filed Under: curtis clark green, dread pirate roberts, ross ulbricht
Companies: silk road

17 Comments

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ethorad (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 12:28pm

Hollywood imagination
"more fascinating than anything Hollywood could make up"

Well, with all the sequels and adaptations that Hollywood pumps out, the only thing they actually make up are financial accounts - and those are pretty dry reading.
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out_of_the_blue, 8 Nov 2013 @ 12:42pm

What's your fascination with drugs and pirates?
Besides putting out undoubtedly false self-serving info for this admitted illegal drug merchant?

The criminal case applies only to those involved. Guess it's just that those with criminal inclinations find other criminals more interesting than industry, artistry, production, or anything useful, as I do. It's a revealing peek into the Techdirt mind.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2013 @ 12:47pm

The question is which Dread Pirate Roberts tried to Kill him? Ross Ulbritch was not the first, and there is a new one. Are the Dread Pirate Roberts just front men for someone else? If the latter, it may not be safe for Curtiss Clarke Green to come forward.
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GMacGuffin (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 1:06pm

Re:
The question is which Dread Pirate Roberts tried to Kill him?

Great point. The classic SOD defense (it wasn't me, it was "some other dude") might here mean "some other Dread."
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2013 @ 1:13pm

Re: What's your fascination with drugs and pirates?
Reveling is your foxiness, my furry friend.

I take it that you don't watch horror movies who would be fascinated by monsters and psychopaths killing people, nor do you never listen to rap or hip hop that are basically something that glorifies criminals, or read a mystery novel.
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Rapnel (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 1:15pm

Re: What's your fascination with drugs and pirates?
It's a revealing peek into the Techdirt mind.

Your yoga pants are not exactly opaque.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2013 @ 1:17pm

Re: What's your fascination with drugs and pirates?
Yes, no one is ever interested in criminal cases except criminals.

What fantasy world do you live in?
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PRMan, 8 Nov 2013 @ 1:35pm

Re:
'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts', he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts has been retired fifteen years and living like a king in Patagonia.'
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Gwiz (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 1:41pm

Re: What's your fascination with drugs and pirates?
Guess it's just that those with criminal inclinations find other criminals more interesting than industry, artistry, production, or anything useful, as I do.

Geez Blue. I actually had to agree with you on the last post and now you come out with this monumentally stupid statement here. Bipolar much?

You have to realize how stupid that sounds when there exists a huge industry developed around the artistry and production of crime novels, both real and fictional. And that tons of people find them very useful for entertainment and educational purposes?
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Mike Masnick (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 3:06pm

Re:
The question is which Dread Pirate Roberts tried to Kill him? Ross Ulbritch was not the first, and there is a new one.

The criminal complaint against Ulbricht makes it pretty clear that he was the first and only DPR. There's plenty of evidence linking it all back to him.
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Vidiot (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 3:42pm

Re: Re:
Cummerbund played the villain in the last Star Trek movie, I think.
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Corwin (profile), 8 Nov 2013 @ 4:40pm

Re: Hollywood imagination
Government imagination does it better.

Didn't you notice that the same story happened twice? That could very well mean that the ill-fitting that recycled plothole-filled storyline is simply standard practice at the Federal Government's Parallel Construction Creative Department.

Everything the DOJ/FBI does is security theater. They imagine plots and LARP them out, entrapping unlucky malcontents as scapegoats representing the last hyped-up non-threat. When was the last time they actually did something really useful? The last dangerous criminal enterprise in the U.S. of A. currently IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. And their law enforcement agents are street thugs, every last one of them, even if some -the happy fools- don't realize it yet.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2013 @ 7:59pm

Re: Re:
The criminal complaint is supposed to make him seem like the one and only DPR, Im sure they are going to try and pin a whole bunch of crazy shit on him. Its a error to be that biased so quickly and to assume evidence in a criminal complaint is even remotely true. At the very least let the defense make there counter argument, at least hear both sides first before making such a claim.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Nov 2013 @ 1:21am

Re: What's your fascination with being a douche, ootb?
You don't have an insight to anything useful, because nothing you do here is useful.

out_of_the_blue just loathes it when due process is enforced.
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PaulT (profile), 9 Nov 2013 @ 1:39am

"a 47-year-old grandfather whose day job is working "at a non-profit dedicated to helping people with learning disabilities." Not exactly what most people probably expected. "

Only if they're idiots who are stuck with stereotypes.
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PaulT (profile), 9 Nov 2013 @ 1:53am

Re: What's your fascination with drugs and pirates?
"undoubtedly false"

If you only backed up any of your idiotic ramblings with citations, maybe someone would take the seriously. Your move.
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Ninja (profile), 11 Nov 2013 @ 2:22am

You'd be surprised how perfectly 'innocent' dads, granddads, moms and so on are involved with the most absurdities. The world ain't a pretty place. I'm actually surprised they managed to dismantle the site.
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