Kevin McCoy

USA TODAY

Convicted Silk Road darknet mastermind Ross Ulbricht has been transformed from Dread Pirate Roberts to jail artist.

The website raising money to appeal his Feb. 2015 conviction and life sentence on Thursday announced an online fundraising game based on an original drawing Ulbricht created after he was "inspired by a dream" behind bars at a New York City detention center.

Titled "The Trial I Saw," the artwork depicts the 31-year-old Texas native's impression of the more than three-week trial that ended with Ulbricht's conviction on charges he founded and ran the encrypted drug-trafficking site that served as an underworld version of eBay for a global network of dealers and users.

The art is hidden beneath a grid of 9,156 squares, instructions on the website say. Parts of the drawing are revealed as players click on squares for $1 each. Supporters also have a chance to post a special message for others to see.

Silk Road 'darknet' boss found guilty of running massive drug website

Florida-based brokerage Roberts & Roberts has donated 21 one-gram gold bars that are scattered throughout the artwork grid, the website said. Player-contributors who select the right squares will win a gram of gold. At current prices, one gram of gold is worth a little more than $40.

After the artwork has been fully revealed, the original drawing will be auctioned to the highest bidder, the website said. Poster reproductions will be sold in the FreeRoss.org. store.

Trial evidence introduced by federal prosecutors showed that Silk Road operated from 2011-2013 and generated millions of dollars in sales commissions on transactions that ranged from heroin and cocaine to phony IDs and computer-hacking programs. All sales were paid in bitcoins, an anonymous electronic currency that masked the identities of buyers and sellers.

Silk Road founder hit with life imprisonment

Prosecution evidence showed that Ulbricht operated the website under the nom de Net Dread Pirate Roberts, a name taken from "The Princess Bride" novel and movie.

Saying "what you did with Silk Road was terribly destructive to our social fabric," U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Forrest sentenced Ulbricht to two life terms and three lesser prison sentences in June.

Convicted Silk Road mastermind seeks new trial

Ulbricht's attorneys in January filed an appeal that seeks to vacate his conviction and force a new trial on grounds that government corruption and legal errors tainted the case.