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SF Programmer Convicted Of Operating Underground Drug Website Silk Road

/ CBS San Francisco

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) -- A San Francisco man has been convicted in New York of creating and operating the underground website Silk Road as a drug-selling haven.

The Manhattan jury returned a quick verdict Wednesday against 30-year-old Ross William Ulbricht.

The decision after little more than three hours of deliberation was a swift repudiation of his lawyer's claims that Ulbricht created the website but quickly turned it over to others.

During closing arguments Tuesday, defense lawyer Joshua Dratel said investigators arrested his client on insufficient evidence in 2013 because they were pressured to make an arrest and shut down Silk Road.

Prosecutor Timothy Howard says overwhelming evidence proves Ulbricht was the digital kingpin of an illegal online drug-dealing empire.

© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

First published on February 4, 2015 / 1:17 PM PST

© 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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