On Friday, Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road online marketplace, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement with the online “drug bazaar.”

In February, Ulbricht, 31, was found guilty on all seven charges stemming from his involvement with the Silk Road marketplace, related to distributing narcotics, fraudulent documents, money laundering, and continuing a criminal enterprise.

As previously reported, Ulbricht’s verdict was decided upon after three hours of deliberation following three weeks of evidence being presented by the government linking Ulbricht to “Dread Pirate Roberts,” Silk Road’s main administrator.

- Newsletter -

Ulbricht faced anywhere from 20 years to life in prison, and he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest. Forrest gave him the ultimate sentence, and justified it by calling Silk Road an “assault on the public health of our communities” by letting people around the world buy illegal drugs.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Ulbricht’s punishment is a “heavy price to pay,” and that before he was sentenced, Ulbricht “pleaded with the judge to spare him his old age and ‘leave a small light at the end of the tunnel.'”