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    scorinalAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:01pm

    I will count the number of times white conservatives use the word "Thug" in reference to this nerdy looking (drug dealing) white man. ( As opposed to say, Trayvon Martin )

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      cheerful_exgirlfriendscorinal
      10/02/13 3:05pm

      Yep. We'll hear "mastermind" "Nerdy" "college graduate"

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      seroevocheerful_exgirlfriend
      10/02/13 3:10pm

      Trayvon Martin made $80 million in a drug empire? What?

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    RussianistAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:29pm

    Over $80-million over 2 years. A smart person would have cashed out after a year with enough f*ck-you money to last the rest of his life. No more risky criminal lifestyle, no more looking over your shoulder for both cops and various violent drug-dealing gangs.

    And it seems he was smart, despite the early security breaches that led to his arrest. He had a STEM grad degree, built and promoted a darknet site, kept a low profile living in what must have been a crawlspace, etc. So what happened?

    Oh, there it is: he's a Libertarian techie, so $20-35-million for a year's work just wasn't good enough. Greedy twit, probably with Walter White levels of passive-aggressive arrogance.

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      EcstasyBlunt420Russianist
      10/02/13 3:46pm

      But think about how many boats he was lifting with his rising tide!

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      RussianistEcstasyBlunt420
      10/02/13 3:47pm

      I have no doubt that at some point the words "I'm a job creator" were uttered.

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    StiffbickiesAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:00pm

    This is a little beside the point, but he paid only $1,000 for an apartment in SF?

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      Sean BrodyStiffbickies
      10/02/13 3:07pm

      This is what is sticking out for everyone, despite the drug empire and murder bids.

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      nimuexxxSean Brody
      10/02/13 3:18pm

      That tells you a lot. Did you ever hear about the BTK murderer? I heard he hid in the closet of one of his victims, waited for her to go to bed, then killed her. ALL I could think was — she has a closet that could fit a WHOLE serial killer? I don't have a closet that could fit a tic-tac, they're so stuffed. I am sorry she died horribly, but she clearly lived well. Then I went online and looked at real estate porn — my favorite pastime.

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    dtlasword777Adrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:10pm

    I just discovered this whole thing recently but how could anyone order drugs through there and not think that at some point there wasn't going to be some kind of security slip up or federal shut down to where your information was going to get figured out. I can only guess anyone who ordered is now just waiting for a knock knock from the DEA.

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      Russianistdtlasword777
      10/02/13 4:18pm

      Part of the selling point of the marketplace was its darknet status — TOR and Bitcoin and all that. It implies that he likely encrypted any personally identifiable customer info stored on the servers (assuming he stored any for any period of time), and wiped the logs on an almost daily basis.

      Also most people ordering drugs probably set up the hand-overs at places other than their homes, and the dealers probably used burner phones.

      That's not to say a portion of his users won't get caught. But the reason he was busted had more to do with a slip-up early on than with a seemingly well-trusted system.

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      thirteenthfloorelevatorRussianist
      10/02/13 6:56pm

      People got their shit sent through the mail.

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    Citizen-KangAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:07pm

    "...a 29-year-old Libertarian engineer living in San Francisco raking in over $80 million in 2 years..."

    Yaawwnnnn...I know a high school chemistry teacher who made $80 million in 1 year...after expenses and overhead.

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      Java378Citizen-Kang
      10/02/13 3:39pm

      Heisenberg isn't real.

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      Citizen-KangJava378
      10/02/13 3:44pm

      Really? What gave it away? Was it because he's the main character on AMC, the same cable channel that brings you The Walking Dead? Or maybe it was because there are commercial breaks in between the mayhem? Your keen observation of the truly obvious is astounding...or whatever the opposite of astounding would be over the internet.

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    Yukon KizmiazAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:31pm

    "...he owned a home in State College, PA, which he sold in 2010 for $187,0000."

    How much?

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      99Telep☺dpr☹blemsYukon Kizmiaz
      10/02/13 3:42pm

      That number is in BitCoins. They do things a bit differently.

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      Yukon Kizmiaz99Telep☺dpr☹blems
      10/02/13 3:44pm

      I guess so. That's not a dollar amount I've seen anywhere. I guess Bitcoins use different comma placement? How would you say that? One hundred eighty seven hundred thousand?

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    Hannibal the CannibalAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:04pm

    I smell a movie script. Or a book deal. Or maybe both.

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      CloseTheDoorHannibal the Cannibal
      10/02/13 3:46pm

      As soon as a I saw the headline and the pic I was like - Leonardo diCaprio totally has his next project lined up.

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      Hannibal the CannibalCloseTheDoor
      10/02/13 3:49pm

      The murder-for-hire part (paid in Bitcoins!) is what really elevates this above and beyond the usual. There's just no way this doesn't get picked up soon.

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    IH8TumblrAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 2:56pm

    OH MY GOD CALL A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY!

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      AnotherOne2IH8Tumblr
      10/02/13 2:59pm

      You can't do that with your hand/wrist? I guess it does look a little weird in that photo, but it's not really an abnormal position.

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      Hannibal the CannibalAnotherOne2
      10/02/13 3:02pm

      I can do it with both of mine simultaneously. It's not particularly difficult, unless I'm about to find out that I've been a mutant all along. In which case, yay?

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    sfmikeeAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:02pm

    I'm completely at a loss to understand what Ulbricht's exit strategy was. How did he ever expect to get away with any of what he was doing?? I mean come on.

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      Malforussfmikee
      10/02/13 3:11pm

      Seriously, was drinking from the firehose on this one. If he had amassed anywhere near $80 million he should have sold the site to someone else and just scarpered. Make your money and go, people who stick around are the ones who get caught.

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      SneejeMalforus
      10/02/13 3:25pm

      I have, in my career, worked with a number of individuals in law enforcement. And one common truth they all told me is that criminals, especially white collar (not sure if this qualifies), almost never know when to stop—the more they succeed, the more (over)confident they become.

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    Sean BrodyAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 3:05pm

    I am as impressed with his $1,000 San Francisco apartment as I am with his drug empire.

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      nimuexxxSean Brody
      10/02/13 3:19pm

      Liar. You are so much more impressed with his 1,000 SF apt and you know it! We all are. We admit it. Drug empire — whatever. Inexpensive real estate? Wa-hoo!

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