Martin Shkreli Has Been Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison
Martin Shkreli, who became infamous as the “pharma bro” CEO who massively hiked the price of an anti-parasite treatment, has been sentenced to seven years in prison on fraud charges unrelated to the price increase, according to CNBC.
Request for political asylum by US pharmaceutical tosspot Martin Shkreli is denied.
— DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) March 9, 2018
For the seventeenth time. pic.twitter.com/4YbPIM4gu2
While Shkreli’s defense team argued he should only receive a sentence of about a year, prosecutors had pushed for at least 15 years, saying Shkreli had not shown remorse for his actions. A judge announced the sentencing decision at a hearing today, where Shkreli reportedly cried while pleading for leniency.
Shkreli made his first appearance in the public eye in 2015, after the 5,000 percent medication price increase. The decision led to him being scorned as “the most hated man in America.” Often, he seemed to soak in the reputation, memorably smiling as he pleaded the Fifth during a congressional hearing.
His prison sentence, however, is not tied to those actions. Prosecutors accused Shkreli of lying to investors while he was the CEO of a different pharmaceutical company.
Shkreli gained even more public scrutiny after it was revealed that he was the mystery buyer of a one-of-a-kind Wu Tang Clan album. In one more indignity for Shkreli, a judge also ordered this week that the album, along with other valuable possessions, be forfeited to the government.
