United States of America v. Ulbricht et al

Filing 3

ENDORSED LETTER addressed to Judge Katherine B. Forrest from Christine Magdo dated 10/1/13 re: The Government respectfully requests that the Civil Complaint, the Protective Order, and any other documents in the above-captioned civil case be unsealed as of October 2, 2013 at 6:00 a.m. ENDORSEMENT: So ordered. (Signed by Judge Katherine B. Forrest on 10/2/2013) (mro)

U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District ofNew York

The Silvio J. Mollo Building
One Saint Andrew's Plaza
New York, New York 10007

October 1,2013

By E~mail
Hon. Katherine B. Forrest
United States District Judge
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
United States Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
New York, New York 10007

Re:

USDCSDNY
DOCUMENT
ELECTRONJCALLY FILED
DOC #:_______-................................

DATE FILED: _ _ _ __

United States v. Ross William Ulbricht, et al.
13 Civ. 6919 (JPO)

Dear Judge Forrest:
On September 30,2013, Your Honor signed an order permitting the United States to file
the above~captioned civil forfeiture action under seaL This sealing order was necessary to
protect the assets named as defendants in rem in the Verified Complaint (the "Civil Complaint")
from being dissipated, hidden, or destroyed before they could be seized by the United States.
Furthermore, the sealing order was necessary in order to avoid disclosure of the sealed criminal
complaint (the "Criminal Complaint") in a parallel criminal proceeding against Ross William
Ulbricht ("Ulbricht"), 13 Mag. 2328 (FM), prior to Ulbricht's arrest
On September 30, 2013, after Your Honor signed the sealing order in the civil forfeiture
action, the United States filed the Civil Complaint, and the case was assigned to the Honorable J.
Paul Oetken, United States District Judge. On October 1,2013, Judge Oetken signed a sealed
protective order (the "Protective Order") authorizing the United States to seize certain defendants
in rem in the civil forfeiture action, namely, the Silk Road website and all the Bitcoins on Silk
Road's servers.
Ulbricht has now been arrested in San Francisco on the charges in the Criminal
Complaint. The seizure of the Silk Road website and the Bitcoins contained on Silk Road's
servers is now underway, and is anticipated to be completed by 6:00 a.m. on October 2,2013.
The seizure of the Silk Road website will affect tens of thousands of the website's users

worldwide. Upon seizing the Silk Road website, the United States will post a notice on the
website, stating that the website has been seized pursuant to a court order. In order to allow the
many users of this illegal website, and the public generally, to understand why this website has
been shut down, the United States wishes to make public the Civil Complaint and the Protective
Order.
Accordingly, the Government respectfully requests that the Civil Complaint, the
Protective Order, and any other documents in the above-captioned civil case be unsealed as of
October 2, 2013 at 6:00 a.m.
Respectfully,
PREET BHARARA
United States Attorney

By:~~~~~~~~~__

RISTINE MAGDO (
-637-2297)
Assistant United States Attorney

SO ORDERED this ~ day of October, 2013

HONORABLE KATHERINE B. FORREST
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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