Cartoonishly evil pharma villain Martin Shkreli was sentenced today to seven years in prison for defrauding investors in two hedge funds.
Last August, Shkreli was convicted on three of eight counts of securities and wire fraud by a federal court in Brooklyn. Prosecutors had accused Shkreli of using his pharmaceutical company Retrophin to repay defrauded investors in hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, both of which were also run by him.
The Associated Press reported that Shkreli tearfully told U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto that he had made many mistakes and apologized to investors.
"I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me," he said. "I took down Martin Shkreli."
Shkreli was also fined $75,000 USD and received credit for the near six-month period he has been in prison.
Earlier this week, the judge ruled that Shkreli would have to forfeit more than $7.3 million in assets, including the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin LP that he had purchased for a price in the $2 million range.
The judge insisted that Shkreli's sentencing was "not about [his] self-cultivated public persona...nor his controversial statements about politics or culture."
Shkreli first became widely known as a pharmaceutical villain for raising the cost of AIDS and cancer drug Daraprim from $13.50 a tablet to $750 a tablet overnight. From there, his purchase of the Wu-Tang Clan's unreleased album led to spat with the group's Ghostface Killah, who demanded that the "fake ass super villain" give the album to "the people."
Shkreli had also spoken about buying Lil B's then-unreleased Black Ken mixtape before reportedly acquiring Lil Wayne's endlessly delayed Tha Carter V LP.
Shkreli was also booted from Twitter early last year for harassing journalist Lauren Duca. Last fall, he offered online followers a $5,000 reward to anyone who could get a lock of Hillary Clinton's hair.
Last August, Shkreli was convicted on three of eight counts of securities and wire fraud by a federal court in Brooklyn. Prosecutors had accused Shkreli of using his pharmaceutical company Retrophin to repay defrauded investors in hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, both of which were also run by him.
The Associated Press reported that Shkreli tearfully told U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto that he had made many mistakes and apologized to investors.
"I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me," he said. "I took down Martin Shkreli."
Shkreli was also fined $75,000 USD and received credit for the near six-month period he has been in prison.
Earlier this week, the judge ruled that Shkreli would have to forfeit more than $7.3 million in assets, including the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin LP that he had purchased for a price in the $2 million range.
The judge insisted that Shkreli's sentencing was "not about [his] self-cultivated public persona...nor his controversial statements about politics or culture."
Shkreli first became widely known as a pharmaceutical villain for raising the cost of AIDS and cancer drug Daraprim from $13.50 a tablet to $750 a tablet overnight. From there, his purchase of the Wu-Tang Clan's unreleased album led to spat with the group's Ghostface Killah, who demanded that the "fake ass super villain" give the album to "the people."
Shkreli had also spoken about buying Lil B's then-unreleased Black Ken mixtape before reportedly acquiring Lil Wayne's endlessly delayed Tha Carter V LP.
Shkreli was also booted from Twitter early last year for harassing journalist Lauren Duca. Last fall, he offered online followers a $5,000 reward to anyone who could get a lock of Hillary Clinton's hair.
