Last month, Ross Ulbricht was found guilty of seven charges related to his role in running the online drug marketplace Silk Road. Ulbricht's lawyer, Joshua Dratel, is seeking a retrial.
In a petition filed last Friday, Mr. Joshua Dratel argued that prosecutors in the Silk Road failed to disclose evidence in a timely manner.
The appeal refers to the "suppression of specific evidence" which resulted in significant effects on the outcome of the trial.
Mr. Joshua Dratel also notes that an expert witness in the Silk Road, Mr. Andreas M. Antonopoulos, was on a flight at the time of the trial and was unable to attend the trial.
USA Today reports that Mr. Antonopoulos would dispute the law enforcement authorities’ analysis and evidence “that showed that Silk Road bitcoins could be linked to Ulbricht’s electronic wallet.”
But who is Mr. Andreas M. Antonopoulos?
Mr. Andreas Antonopoulos is currently based in California and is an information security expert. He is a technologist-entrepreneur and author. He is also a public speaker, and hosts the Let's Talk Bitcoin podcast. He also teaches his colleagues for the Master's degree in Digital Currency Science at the University of Nicosia.
Previous career
Mr. Antonopoulos received his degree in Computer Science and Data Communications and Distributed Systems from University College London.
He has been involved in open source and open network businesses since 1990. He has authored more than two hundred articles published in print and syndicated journals worldwide. He was a contributor to the Research Journal, and researched computer security, stating that the greatest threat to computer security was not the skilled hacker, but the overly complex systems that resulted from rapid business change.
Participation in Bitcoin
Antonopoulos is an advisor to several Bitcoin startups through his permanent host on the Let's Talk Bitcoin podcast.
He headed the Bitcoin Foundation's anti-poverty committee until 2014, but resigned due to disagreements with management.
In a statement, he explains the reasons for his resignation: "I can no longer have even the slightest cooperation with the Bitcoin Foundation, due to the complete lack of transparency."
In January 2014, he joined Blockchain.info as Chief Security Officer. In September 2014, he left the CSO role and became a member of the board of directors.
Mr. Antonopoulos has publicly criticized Mt. Gox as “a systemic risk to Bitcoin, a death trap for traders as it is a business run by the ignorant” since April 2013.
In February 2014, when Mt. Gox closed, Mr. Antonopoulos issued public statements explaining his view on the causes of the Mt. Gox bubble and reviewing the security of funds managed by Coinbase to rebuild trust.
In April 2014, Antonopoulos organized a fundraising campaign for Dorian Nakamoto, whom a Newsweek article identified as the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
The reporting techniques used in the article were controversial among journalists and members of the Bitcoin community. The fundraiser, intended to help Nakamoto after the attention he received as a result of the article, managed to raise 50 bitcoins, worth $23,000 at the digital currency's then-current price.
With information from USA Today, Wikipedia and TheVerge.
Source: secnews.gr
