"Mr. Ulbricht�s high-tech drug bazaar was novel and full of intrigue, operating in a hidden part of the Internet known as the dark web..."

"... which allowed deals to be made anonymously and out of the reach of law enforcement. In Silk Road�s nearly three years of operation, over 1.5 million transactions were carried out on the website involving several thousand seller accounts and more than 100,000 buyer accounts, the authorities have said. Transactions were paid for using the virtual currency Bitcoin, and Mr. Ulbricht, operating under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, took in millions of dollars in commissions, prosecutors said... 'He developed a blueprint for a new way to use the Internet to undermine the law and facilitate criminal transactions,' the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a sentencing memorandum this week. 'Using that blueprint,' the office said, 'others have followed in Ulbricht�s footsteps, establishing new "dark markets" in the mold of Silk Road, some selling an even broader range of illicit goods and services.'"

Dread Pirate Roberts � Ross W. Ulbricht, 31 � faced a minimum sentence of 20 years. The judge � Federal District Judge Katherine B. Forrest � gave him life.