<P> In a letter to Judge Forrest before his sentencing, Ulbricht stated that his actions through Silk Road were committed through libertarian idealism and that "Silk Road was supposed to be about giving people the freedom to make their own choices" and admitted that he made a "terrible mistake" that "ruined his life". On May 29, 2015, Ulbricht was given five sentences to be served concurrently, including two for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole . He was also ordered to forfeit $183 million . Ulbricht's lawyer Joshua Dratel said that he would appeal the sentencing and the original guilty verdict . On May 31, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Ulbricht's appeal, and affirmed the judgment of conviction and life sentence, in a written opinion authored by the Honorable Gerard E. Lynch, United States Circuit Judge . The Supreme Court declined to review the case . </P> <P> In February 2013, an Australian cocaine and MDMA ("ecstasy") dealer became the first person to be convicted of crimes directly related to Silk Road, after authorities intercepted drugs that he was importing through the mail, searched his premises, and discovered his Silk Road alias in an image file on his personal computer . Australian police and the DEA have targeted Silk Road users and made arrests, albeit with limited success at reaching convictions . In December 2013, a New Zealand man was sentenced to two years and four months in jail after being convicted of importing 15 grams of methamphetamine that he had bought on Silk Road . </P> <P> Twenty - three year old Dutch drug dealer Cornelis Jan "Maikel" Slomp pled guilty for large scale selling of drugs through the Silk Road website, and was sentenced in Chicago to 10 years in prison on 29 May 2015 with his attorney, Paul Petruzzi, present . Dealer Steven Sadler was sentenced to five years in prison . There have been over 130 other arrests connected with The Silk Road, although some of these arrests may not be directly related to The Silk Road, and may not be public information due to legal reasons . </P> <P> In March 2013, the site had 10,000 products for sale by vendors, 70% of which were drugs . In October 2014, there were 13,756 listings for drugs, grouped under the headings stimulants, psychedelics, prescription, precursors, other, opioids, ecstasy, dissociatives, and steroids / PEDs . Fake driver's licenses were also offered for sale . The site's terms of service prohibited the sale of certain items . When the Silk Road marketplace first began the creator and administrators instituted terms of service that prohibited the sale of anything whose purpose was to "harm or defraud". This included child pornography, stolen credit cards, assassinations, and weapons of any type; other darknet markets such as Black Market Reloaded gained user notoriety because they were not as restrictive on these items as the Silk Road incarnations were . There were also legal goods and services for sale, such as apparel, art, books, cigarettes, erotica, jewelery, and writing services . A sister site, called "The Armory", sold weapons (primarily guns) during 2012, but was shut down because of a lack of demand . </P>

Is it illegal to go on the silk road website