It’s alleged Ross Ulbright, sketched here in court, is responsible for at least six drug-related deaths.

The American jailed for life for masterminding the online criminal enterprise Silk Road, that’s been linked to drug-related deaths including that of an Australian teenager, has appealed his sentence.

It was the maximum possible punishment for Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to two life terms, and five, 15 and 20 years for hacking, trafficking in false documents and money laundering.

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The defence had requested the mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and not even the government had requested the full life term.

The 31-year-old, from a middle class family and educated at graduate school, filed the appeal at the US federal court in New York on Thursday – a week after his sentencing.

Silk Road sold $US200 million ($A260 million) in drugs across the world.

Ulbricht ran Silk Road under the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,” amassing $US13 million ($A16.9 million) in Bitcoins in commissions by making the purchase of heroin and cocaine as easy as shopping online at eBay or Amazon.

It was alleged that Ulbricht was responsible for at least six drug-related fatalities including that of Perth youth Preston Bridge who died in February 2013 after falling from a balcony following an after-ball party.

It’s believed the 16-year-old was under the influence of an hallucinogen purchased through Silk Road by a friend.

Prosecutors said Ulbricht commissioned five murders, although there is no evidence that the killings for hire ever took place.

Silk Road conducted 50,000 sales of heroin, 80,000 sales of cocaine and 30,000 of methamphetamine, the trial heard.

Ulbricht’s four-week trial had been considered a landmark case in the murky world of online crime and government surveillance.