‘I took down Martin Shkreli’
Sobbing ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli sentenced to 7 years behind bars for fraud.
‘‘Pharma Bro’’ Martin Shkreli cried like a baby before a judge sentenced him to seven years in prison for defrauding investors.
The severe prison term capped the dramatic fall of the 34-year-old biotech entrepreneur-turnedinternational villain who first gained infamy for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug for AIDS patients.
‘‘There is no conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli. I took down Martin Shkreli,’’ a sobbing Shkreli said, his voice cracking and his address interrupted by the judge handing him tissues. ‘‘This is my fault. I am not a victim here.’’
Federal prosecutors had requested a sentence of at least 15 years after Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy.
His lawyers argued that he deserved 12 to 18 months. In his typical grating style, Shkreli himself once boasted that he would likely spend mere months at a cushy ‘‘Club Fed’’ prison.
‘‘He shouldn’t be sentenced simply for being Martin Shkreli,’’ defence lawyer Ben Brafman said.
‘‘I’m old enough to be his father. … (There are) times I want to hug him and hold him, times I want to punch him in the face for some of the things he said.’’
Prosecutor Jacqueline Kasulis slammed Shkreli as an unrepentant fraudster who cares only about himself and his supersized ego.
‘‘What motivates Martin Shkreli is his own image,’’ Kasulis said. ‘‘He can’t just be an average person who fails, like the rest of us. … He needs to be mythical, He needs to be larger than life.’’
Shkreli transformed into an international villain in September 2015, when he hiked the price of Daraprim by 5000 per cent, to $750 (NZ$1000) per pill.
Shkreli stoked his notoriety by stonewalling federal lawmakers at a hearing and later tweeting they were ‘‘imbeciles’’.
He was kicked off Twitter last January for harassing journalist Lauren Duca.
Some prospective jurors were excused for calling Shkreli a ‘‘snake’’ and ‘‘the face of corporate greed in America. ‘‘
But the case had nothing to do with Daraprim, a drug used to treat infections in people with HIV/ AIDS.
It focused on how Shkreli — before becoming the ‘‘most hated man in America’’ — ran his hedge funds and pharmaceutical company. Prosecutors said he churned out lies to extract investor money and string them along. Shkreli said they were sophisticated people who knew the risks and made eyepopping profits.
The trial had its bizarre turns — Shkreli once ambled into a press room to trash the case, and a gay investor testified that perhaps Shkreli talked of male trysts so he could ingratiate himself well-heeled man.
The trial ended last August with jurors convicting Shkreli on three counts and acquitting him on five others.
‘‘This was a witch hunt of epic proportions,’’ Shkreli said at the time, even if ‘‘one or two broomsticks’’ were unearthed. with the
Earlier this week, US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ordered Shkreli to forfeit US$7.36 million.
She allowed prosecutors to go after Shkreli’s Picasso painting and his hip-hop crown jewels — a copy of Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter V and a single-edition cut of the Wu Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which reportedly cost US$2 million.
Shkreli’s lawyer argued he shouldn’t have to forfeit a dime because he ultimately made his rich investors richer.
Much has changed since the verdict, when Shkreli left court as a felon feeling fine.
Matsumoto revoked his US$5 million bail in September and sent him to jail. She wasn’t amused by his Facebook post offering a US$5000 reward for Hillary Clinton’s hair.
In lock-up, the now-bearded Shkreli said he was tutoring other inmates, playing chess, basketball and getting his head right.
‘‘I have learned a very painful lesson,’’ he wrote to Matsumoto. ‘‘Never again will I prevaricate or omit or mislead — intentionally or not.’’
Prosecutors said Shkreli’s snarky, defiant jailhouse emails showed his apology was ‘‘a carefully constructed facade.’’
While Shkreli was growing a beard and drawing the ire of prosecutors, his former lawyer went to trial.
Prosecutors said Evan Greebel engineered Shkreli’s cons. Greebel said Shkreli duped him. Greebel was convicted on both charges in December.
Shkreli has announced file an appeal.
NY Daily News plans to