Diana S Dolliver — How a virtual ‘mob boss’ from Texas became the new face of organized crime

This guy's mistake was not controlling a big bank.

This guy gets life while the bank crime bosses walk free while their banks get a fine paid by the shareholders if they are "brought to justice."

US District Judge Katherine Forrest chose to impose the harshest sentence she could, essentially equating him with a mafia boss in hopes of sending a message to other would-be cyber criminals. As she said during sentencing:

The stated purpose [of the Silk Road] was to be beyond the law. In the world you created over time, democracy didn’t exist. You were captain of the ship, the Dread Pirate Roberts. You made your own laws. What you did with Silk Road was terribly destructive to our social fabric.

Explain to me what this guy did differently from what the big banks did and continue to do only on a much larger scale.

The Conservation
How a virtual ‘mob boss’ from Texas became the new face of organized crime
Diana S Dolliver, University of Alabama