A federal judge sentenced former pharmaceutical executive and hedge-fund manager Martin Shkreli to seven years in prison Friday following his earlier conviction on three of eight counts of securities and wire fraud charges.
According to reporters present in the Brooklyn courtroom, Shkreli gave an emotional and tearful speech prior to his sentencing, taking blame and responsibility for his actions and saying he had changed as a person since his conviction. US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto reportedly handed him a box of tissues and took a lengthy amount of time reviewing his transgressions and history.
The sentencing caps a long, public saga for Shkreli, who is widely reviled for drastically raising the price of a cheap, decades-old drug, as well as provocative and offensive online antics, including harassing women.
Obligatory Nelson HaHa
Source: ArsTechnica
KSWB-TV reports
He was convicted on August 5, 2017 of securities fraud and conspiracy in what prosecutors said amounted to a Ponzi scheme. Shkreli called the charges "a witch hunt of epic proportions".
During his sentencing on Friday in Brooklyn federal court, Shkreli, 34, broke into tears and pleaded with the judge for leniency.
"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."
At his trial last year, Shkreli often wore a smirk and was chastised by the judge for his behavior, including for an incident in which he told reporters that the prosecutors on the case were "junior varsity". He also ignored the advice of his lawyer by commenting on the trial via social media and YouTube.
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by black6host on Sunday March 11 2018, @08:51PM (2 children)
I bet his sobbing was for poor Martin. I would be surprised if his attorney didn't tell him to do something to appear apologetic and tug on some heart strings. Leopards don't change their spots, so I'd be hard pressed to think that he truly learned his lesson and that the tears sprang from the wellspring of his remorse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:04PM
By a bunch of B?Cs whose mothers had died due to his pharma pricing antics.
Then we might finally have mob justice done for the people.
Also maybe he would come out of prison being truly remorseful, if not rehabilitated, if only for the pounding his poor anus took due to his amoral actions.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Monday March 12 2018, @12:43AM
I reckon you're right. Psychopaths can simulate human emotion when they need to. It's part of what makes them so deleterious to humans. Sometimes their eyes give it away, but most people aren't expert enough at reading micro-expressions to tell, and they are socialized to give others the benefit of the doubt.
Washington DC delenda est.