Two life sentences was a bit harsh. 11 years seems about right to me.

I suspect the idea beyond "Free Ross" in some circles was that his conviction wasn't so much about drug dealing, but rather it was more a political prosecution for popularizing real uses of cryptocurrencies.

There's probably still some SR btc they wanted the keys to.

Possibly a deal with the Libertarian Party, which chose not to run their candidate in several states to help Trump: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhDKYYdD2vY

It was one of the promises he made at a Bitcoin conference he attended a few months ago. It has been a popular issue in crypto circles