New York City – Day two of the Ross Ulbricht trial began on Wednesday morning with the prosecution continuing to question DHS agent and apparent Silk Road mole Jared Deryeghiayan.  Lead prosecutor Serrin Turner presented several screenshots related to criminal activity on the Silk Road. He asked Deryeghiayan to explain each exhibit and how it related to illegal activity, including the purchase of illicit drugs and fraudulent documents.

While it has been demonstrated that drugs were in fact trafficked through the Silk Road, charges of conspiracy to traffic in hacking software and stolen passports have yet to be substantiated by the government. Even if the prosecution proves that drugs, fraudulent documents, and hacking software/services were in fact trafficked through Silk Road, they must still demonstrate that at the time of the alleged illegal activity, Ulbricht was acting as Dread Pirate Roberts, the Silk Road administrator.

In the late afternoon the prosecution questioned Deryeghiayan on the specifics of how the government arrested Ulbricht. Deryeghiayan said the DHS concocted a plan to get Ulbricht in a public place with internet to catch him chatting with the undercover agent as Dread Pirate Roberts. The government's charges against Ulbricht depend on their ability to prove that Ulbricht was indeed Dread Pirate Roberts. To secure that evidence the arresting agents were instructed to pull the laptop first before grabbing Ulbricht.