Shkreli heads to jail after bail revoked
Judge says Pharma Bro’s post on Clinton’s hair may be seen as ‘solicitation of an assault’
NEW YORK— A judge jailed former pharmaceuticals company CEO Martin Shkreli on Wednesday after finding that he violated his bail on a securities fraud conviction with a social media posting she agreed posed a threat to Hillary Clinton.
Defence attorneys had argued at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn that the post by Shkreli, offering a $5,000 (U.S.) bounty to anyone who could grab him one of Clinton’s hairs while she’s on a book tour, was political satire. But U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto didn’t see the humour, saying the offer could be taken seriously by fellow Clinton detractors.
The Clinton offer could be viewed as “a solicitation of an assault,” the judge said before revoking Shkreli’s $5-million bail.
“This is not protected by the First Amendment,” the judge said. “There’s a risk that somebody may take him up on it.”
The government had told the judge that the message had alarmed the Secret Service detail that protects Clinton, a Democratic former presidential candidate and first lady. It also argued that it fit a pattern of veiled threats against female jour- nalists who rebuffed Shkreli’s social media advances and of taunts aimed at prosecutors in his case.
On Wednesday morning, Shkreli, often called the Pharma Bro, wrote to the court apologizing for his behaviour, saying, “I am not a violent person.”
“He doesn’t have to apologize to me,” Matsumoto said. “He should apologize to the government, the Secret Service and Hillary Clinton.”
Shkreli watched in silence as the hearing unfolded and sometimes put his head down and appeared to scribble notes. After the judge’s ruling, he remained expressionless as deputy U.S. marshals led him out a side door of the courtroom without handcuffing him.
Shkreli, who is best known for hiking up the price of a life-saving drug and for trolling his critics on social media, was found guilty last month on charges, unrelated to the pricefixing scandal, that he cheated investors in two failed hedge funds he ran. The defence had argued that investors got their original investments back and even made hefty profits.
Shkreli faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing, set for Jan. 16.