Martin Shkreli broke down in tears and asked for “your honor’s mercy” in court.
“I was never motivated by money. I was trying to grow my stature and reputation. There is no government conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli. I took down Martin Shkreli with my disgraceful and shameful actions.”
Judge Kiyo Matsumoto offered Shkreli a box of tissues during his boo-hoo remarks. Referred to as “Pharma Bro” or “The Most Hated Man in America,” was sentenced for defrauding investors of his hedge funds and for manipulating the stock of his pharmaceutical company, Retrophin.
Prosecutors asked for Shkreli to be sentenced for 15 years claiming he
“stole money for his personal benefit”
and was solely motivated by
“his own image.
He is about to turn 35 years old. He’s a man who needs to take responsibility for his actions.“
His defense attorney, Ben Brafman, loved and hated the guy too. He told the judge,
“There are times I want to hug [Shkreli]…There are times when I want to punch him in the face… he cannot always control awkward, inappropriate behaviors.“
The Pharma Bro was most famous for taking the 62-year old drug Daraprim, used to treat newborns HIV patients, and jacking up the price 5,000 percent while CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2015. Price per pill went from $13.50 to $750 each.
Shkreli then basked in his own infamy. He bought a $2 million dollar and one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, publicly bragged about how he owed a Picasso painting, and offered a bounty of $5,000 for anyone of his 70,000 Facebook followers who could provide him samples of Hillary Clinton’s hair while she was on her book tour.
The album and the painting were taken as part of $7.36m of assets seized by the courts, and his nasty Facebook post about Clinton cost him his bail for
“solicitation of assault.”
Matsumoto said, while revoking his bond in September,
“He doesn’t have to apologize to me. He should apologize to the government, the Secret Service and Hillary Clinton.”
Brafman said that he’ll be filing for appeal, but in the meantime, he’ll reside in prison—away from the stock schemes, pill prices, rap albums, and social media platforms that got him there.
Martin Shkreli’s own lawyer said, “There are times when I want to punch him in the face…”
(Photos, YouTube; via Daily Beast)
