Apparently, he founded the site, set it running very successfully, left, and was then cunningly lured back by those then in charge solely to be the fall guy for the Fed investigation.
https://twitter.com/kari_paul/status/555820627907846144
"Defense in Silk Road trial arguing Mark Karpeles, CEO of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, was the real mastermind behind Silk Road."
What the shitting Christ.
EDIT: Daily Dot has a court report: http://www.dailydot.com/crime/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-mark-k... The DHS seriously considered it likely Karpeles was involved in Silk Road.