Remember when Martin Shkreli sneered during a Congressional committee as he took the Fifth when questioned about why his pharmaceutical company had jacked up the price of a life-saving HIV drug from $13.50 a pill to $750?
Well, now he's heading to federal prison to serve a seven year sentence for another entirely separate matter. You've probably read about this, but I figured it was worth some commentary anyway.
In fact, it's too bad the "pharma bro's" sentence is not a lot longer given the attitude he displayed during that hearing in 2016 and then later in court when he was charged with defrauding investors in yet another company before the HIV drug episode.
Following the Congressional hearing, Shkreli sent a tweet calling the legislators "imbeciles." He was so obnoxious through this episode there were stories calling him the most hated man in America.
Shkreli, 34, was convicted on August 5, 2017 of securities fraud and conspiracy in what prosecutors said amounted to a Ponzi scheme. Between 2009 and 2014, prosecutors said he lied to investors at MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare about how well its funds were doing. They said that while he was CEO of Retrophin, (RTRX) he used the pharmaceutical company as a piggy bank to pay off MSMB investors and cover personal loans and other debts.
Shkreli called the charges "a witch hunt of epic proportions."
After his conviction, he was released on $5 million bail, but it was revoked by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto after Shkreli used social media to offer $5,000 to anyone would bring him a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair.
According to this article, during his sentencing on Friday in Brooklyn federal court, Shkreli broke into tears and pleaded for leniency as the judge passed him a box of tissues.
"I look back and I'm embarrassed and ashamed," he told the court. "I am terribly sorry," he said to his investors, "I lost your trust." "There's no conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli. I took down Martin Shkreli with my disgraceful and shameful actions." Guess it's easy to feel remorse when you're facing a stiff jail sentence that could have been a lot longer.
At his trial last year, Shkreli often wore a smirk and was chastised by the judge for his behavior, including for telling reporters that the prosecutors were "junior varsity." He also ignored the advice of his lawyer by commenting on the trial via social media and YouTube.
But even after Shkreli pays all of his fines and forfeits $7.4 million as ordered by the court, he will still be worth about $20 million, according to news reports. That ought to ease the pain of serving time in a federal pen.
Poor Martin.