Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/458035
ByLarryNeumeister and Tom Hays The Associated Press NEW YORK A San Fran- cisco man was swiftly con- victed Wednesday of creat- ing and operating an un- derground website that prosecutors said enabled drug dealers around the world to reach customers they would never find on the street. Ross William Ulbricht was convicted of seven drug and conspiracy counts. The jury's verdict in federal court in Man- hattan came after little more than three hours of deliberations and one day after prosecutors urged jurors to follow Ulbricht's "digital fingerprints." The government said drug dealing made up nearly all of Silk Road's sales during its nearly three years in business, which ended with Ul- bricht's October 2013 ar- rest. Prosecutors also dis- counted defense claims that Ulbricht was framed by others in a murky Inter- net world where nothing is what it seems. Prosecutors said Ul- bricht enabled more than 1 million drug deals on Silk Road and earned about $18 million in bitcoins. Sales of illegal drugs of every type were delivered through the website, repre- senting at least $180 mil- lion in sales, they said. Ulbricht had several supporters among the spectators. When the ver- dict was announced, his father dropped his head in his hands. Later, a male spectator shouted out, "Ross is a hero!" Another called out to him: "It's not over Ross. We love you." As Ulbricht was led out of court, he waved toward the spectator section. Lyn Ulbricht, his mother, exited the court- room complaining that the defense had been barred from putting on evidence that would help her son. "It was not a fair trial. It was not an even playing field, and I think that's a tragedy," she said. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the convic- tion "should send a clear message to anyone else attempting to operate an online criminal enterprise. The supposed anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from ar- rest and prosecution." The agent testified that the website's online boss went by the alias Dread Pi- rate Roberts, a reference to the swashbuckling charac- ter in "The Princess Bride," and prosecutors presented numerous instant message conversations involving a person using that persona. Defense attorney Joshua Dratel insisted evidence proved Ulbricht was not Dread Pirate Roberts. But Der-Yeghiayan said he was the agent who was communicating online with Ulbricht when he was arrested while sitting at his computer at San Fran- cisco's Glen Park Library. Agents, he said, were in- structed to snatch the lap- top before arresting Ul- bricht. On it, he said, they dis- covered that Ulbricht was signed in as Dread Pi- rate Roberts and was im- mersed in a chat with Der- Yeghiayan. During closing argu- ments Tuesday, Dratel said his client quit Silk Road soon after creating it to sell anything on the Internet and before the website was overrun by drug dealers. But Assistant U.S. At- torney Serrin Turner said Ulbricht operated the site from beginning to end and was willing to do anything to protect it. He cited emails that he said showed Ulbricht was will- ing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to kill as many as five people he thought were threats to his operation. DRUG, CONSPIRACY COUNTS Man convicted of operating underground website Silk Road By Michael R. Blood The Associated Press LOS ANGELES It's been more than three weeks since she announced her U.S. Senate candidacy and Kamala Harris hasn't spo- ken a word at a public cam- paign event. That's because there haven't been any. The state attorney gen- eral has piled up a dozen endorsements from like- minded Democrats, in- cluding Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. But Har- ris hasn't shared a stage with any of them — the announcements were dis- tributed through email or Twitter. Even her entry into the 2016 race last month was seen but not heard: She be- gan the campaign with a brief, written post on her website. With the first round of voting still more than a year away, Harris' steps point to an early strategy that ap- pears less about connect- ing with California's 18 million voters than send- ing a message to likely ri- vals to get out of the way. For now, she's the only es- tablished candidate, but there's a long list of possi- ble contenders, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa and Democratic U.S. Reps. Lo- retta Sanchez, Adam Schiff and Xavier Becerra. While she has yet to make a formal campaign appearance, Harris, 50, has been busy phoning potential supporters and holding private fundrais- ers for a contest that could easily cost $30 million or more. That will force can- didates to raise an average of $400,000 weekly. "What is the audience she is trying to affect right now? It's not the public, it's other potential can- didates," said Republican consultant Aaron McLear, a George W. Bush cam- paign veteran who advised GOP nominee Neel Kash- kari in the 2014 California governor's race. "She's doing everything she can to put herself in the pole position as soon as pos- sible," McLear said. For po- tential contenders, "the lon- ger they wait, the more en- dorsements she is racking up, the more money she is raising." Sen. Barbara Boxer's an- nouncement in January that she would not seek a fifth term created the first open Senate seat since 1993 and set the stage for a free- for-all among a new gener- ation of California Demo- crats. The party is expected to retain Boxer's seat, given California's pronounced Democratic tilt. The emerging contest has already exposed rival- ries of geography and de- mographics in the diverse state. Villaraigosa was the first Hispanic mayor in Los Angeles in a century and Latinos, who now make up 20 percent of voters, are eager to see one of their own in Washington. Har- ris, whose father is black and mother is Indian, has landed key endorsements from black leadership. Some leaders in the com- munity have fretted in re- cent years about diminish- ing black political clout in the state as the Hispanic population grows, partic- ularly in Southern Cali- fornia. For mer A s sembly Speaker Willie Brown, who is black and supports Har- ris, a girlfriend two de- cades ago, told The Sacra- mento Bee last month that Villaraigosa should pass on the Senate race. "His loy- alty and his relationship with her should be so valu- able, and he should, in my opinion, see it as an oppor- tunity to demonstrate that," Brown said. Meantime, Harris' Sacra- mento job has allowed her to stay visible without cam- paigning. Meeting with re- porters at her Los Angeles office Tuesday to discuss a criminal case, she turned away a question about the Senate seat. "We are in a state build- ing, and I'm not going to talk about politics now," she said. Harris' early maneuvers bear some resemblance to those employed by a one- time attorney general, Gov. Jerry Brown, another Dem- ocrat from Northern Cali- fornia who in his 2010 race for the state's top job was noted for holding off on conventional-style cam- paigning and spending. He was an even scarcer pres- ence on the campaign trail winning re-election last year. But Brown, whose fa- ther was also governor, owns one of the most rec- ognized political names in the state. Harris, though elected twice statewide, is less widely known, espe- cially outside of her home base on the San Francisco Bay Area. Polling last September by the independent Field Poll suggested that 1 in 4 voters didn't know enough about Harris to have an opinion of her. 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The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information be- low. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS af- ter this summons and legal pa- pers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your writ- ten response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be form that your may a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more in- formation at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center ( www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your re- sponse on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal require- ments. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a non- profit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.la- whelpcalifornia.org), the Califor- nia Courts Online Self-Help Cen- ter (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfh elp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: the court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court's lien must be paid before the court will dis- miss the case. AVISO!Lo han demandado. si AVISO!Lo han demandado. si no responde dentro de 30 dias, la corte puede deciidir en su con- tra sin escucher su version. Les la informacion e continuacidon. Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO despues de que le entreguen esta citacion y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefonica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y mas informacion en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.courtinfo.ca. gov/self help/espanol/), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentacion, pida al secretario de la corte que le de un formulario de exencion de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podra quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia. Hay otros requistos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si que abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remision a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifor- nia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (ww w.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/esp anol/) o poniendose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por leyla corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravemen sobre cusiquier recuperacion de $10,000 o mas de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o une concesion de arbitraje en un caso de derecto civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso. CASE NUMBER: (Numero del Caso) 70098 The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y direccion de la corte es) CALIFORNIA SU- PERIOR COURT, 633 Washington St. #17, P.O. Box 310 Red Bluff, CA 96080. The address, and tele- The name, address, and tele- phone number of plaintiff¹s at- torney, or plaintiff without an at- torney, is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es) RONALD D. SANDERS 357 Caldarella Cir. Roseville, CA 95678 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: The property described in the Com- plaint is the real property locat- ed in the Tehama County, Cali- fornia commonly known as Tehama County Assessor's Par- cel Number 075-150-03, more particularly described as: The East one-half of the West one- fifth of Lot 4, Block 13 of the Maywood Colony per Map filed 23 May 1891 in Book A of Maps at Page 33, Tehama County Re- cords. together with all right, ti- tle, and interest in and to all mineral, gas oil, and other hy- drocarbon substances therein. Publish: January 22, 29 and Feb- ruary 5 & 12, 2015 i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià i}> ÌVià THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B