On Friday, Shkreli’s unique journey from a hedge fund rising star to Wall St bad boy took its most serious turn yet. During the court hearing earlier today, Shkreli was emotional, saying, “I’m here because of my gross, stupid, negligent mistakes”.
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There were no such giggles in the NY courtroom this week, as Shkreli choked back tears and read a statement expressing remorse for his actions.
“I am terribly sorry I lost your trust”, he told investors. I know right from wrong.
During the course of the trial, Shkreli was removed from Twitter for harassing a journalist for Teen Vogue magazine.
Shkreli transformed into an worldwide villain in September 2015, when he hiked the price of Daraprim by 5,000 percent, to $750 per pill.
She said it was clear he is a “tremendously gifted individual who has the capacity for kindness”.
“I’m not the same person I was”, he said.
Prosecutors were seeking 15 years’ prison, arguing that Shkreli showed no remorse for his actions and pointing to his provocative and freaky statements posted on social media.
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 $2 million.
Although jurors at his trial were told to disregard his price gouging history, the episode was cited by government prosecutors in their push for a tough sentence. The judge apparently was unmoved, although the sentence is less than the 15 years the prosecution requested. His lawyer had initially wanted 12-18 months prison time, while prosecutors called for at least 15 years.
Is “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli (SHKREL’-ee) a manipulator who conned wealthy investors or a misunderstood eccentric who made those same investors even wealthier?
At the sentencing, Shkreli was seen crying amidst the deliberations, according to The Associated Press.
In his defense, this is Martin Shkreli’s face.
“He wants everyone to believe he is a genius, a whiz kid, a self-taught biotech wonder”, said prosecutor Jacquelyn Kasulis.
“He victimises people without thinking about it”.
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While the judge emphasised that it was Shkreli’s crimes, not his outside conduct, that resulted in his sentence, it seems impossible that behaviour such as the Clinton hair bounty did not influence the severity of his punishment. But the spectre of prison was never far from his mind. Shkreli will also have to pay $7.4 million in restitution to the victims of his fraud.
