‘Pharma bro’ Shkreli gets 7 years in prison
Notorious pharmaceutical exec takes blame after being found guilty of defrauding investors
NEW YORK— Martin Shkreli, the smirking “Pharma Bro” vilified for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug, was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds.
The self-promoting pharmaceutical executive notorious for trolling critics online was convicted in a securities fraud case last year unconnected to the price increase dispute.
Shkreli, his cocky persona nowhere to be found, cried as he told U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto he made many mistakes and apologized to investors.
“I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me,” he said. “I took down Martin Shkreli.”
He said that he hopes to make amends and learn from his mistakes and apolo- gized to his investors.
“I am terribly sorry I lost your trust,” he said. “You deserve far better.”
The judge insisted that the punishment was not about Shkreli’s online antics or raising the cost of the drug.
“This case is not about Mr. Shkreli’s self-cultivated public persona … nor his controversial statements about politics or culture,” the judge said, calling his crimes serious.
He was also fined $75,000 (U.S.) and received credit for the roughly six months he has been in prison.
The judge ruled earlier this week that Shkreli would have to forfeit more than $7.3 million in a brokerage account and personal assets including his one-of-akind Wu-Tang Clan album that he boasted he bought for $2 million. The judge said the property would not be seized until Shkreli had a chance to appeal.
Prosecutors argued that the 34-yearold was a master manipulator who conned wealthy investors and deserved 15 years in prison. His lawyers said he was a misunderstood eccentric who used unconventional means to make those same investors even wealthier.