There are logs showing that the Dread Pirate Roberts account tried to hire a hitman. There were known to be multiple people who had access to the account including possibly the corrupt DEA agent who was put in prision for embezzling Bitcoin related to this investigation. There was a login to the account after Ross was in custody.

It would have been impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ross was the one who ordered the hit however the judge did reference the ordered hit during the sentencing. His sentence seemed intentionally punitive in an attempt to scare people away from Bitcoin.