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posted by janrinok on Sunday March 11 2018, @08:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-a-shame dept.

It's 7 Years in Prison for Martin Shkreli, Convicted of Fraud

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

Sobbing "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors

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: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @08:57PM (14 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @08:57PM (#651065)

    This is why we have laws. Not mob justice.

    Yes what he did was terrible. But a death sentence? Does that not seem extreme? Considering what he did was basically raise prices to the insurance companies and gave it away for free to those who could not get insurance? That is more akin to fraud (which he is going to spend time in prison for).

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:01PM (12 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:01PM (#651069) Journal

    Hey, if ordinary law-abiding people suffer that for not committing any crime at all, it follows that it's at least as just for someone whose greed doubtlessly killed dozens of hundreds of people to suffer it. If you have a problem with that idea, ask yourselves why.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:08PM (6 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:08PM (#651072)

      omeone whose greed doubtlessly killed dozens of hundreds of people to suffer it
      Oh who? That is supposition and innuendo. You *think* he did these things. Maybe he even did. But his crime here is security fraud. When will they be bringing up the charges for murder? Not going to happen. Because no one died from it. I am not going to judge a man based on what I heard on the internet. You should ask *yourself* why you do that?

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:25PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @09:25PM (#651083)

        I have to admire your courage, other AC. You're not wrong. You're probably a better person than me.

        Perhaps all of us need to remember that the only reason Shkreli could do what he did with drug prices is because healthcare in the US is fundamentally broken. It's neither capitalist nor socialist yet the worst of both worlds. Everybody who votes for the one DuR party (see what I did there? meme-able? not meme-able?) is to blame for this situation. The Libertarian and Green parties are on the ballot in most states. This November, I wish everybody would ask themselves, before they vote DuR team again, what they expect doing the same thing over and over again will ever change.

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @11:56PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @11:56PM (#651119)

          [USA's healthcare is] neither capitalist nor socialist

          Here's Socialism:
          The collective ownership of the means of production by The Workers.
          Even mentioning that word is a red herring.
          ...or maybe you can point to something in USA where it appears to apply to healthcare.

          Here's a definition of Capitalism that I like:
          A hierarchical economic system where The Working Class is exploited by a separate Ownership Class and is indoctrinated with the mantra "Always be maximizing profits for The Ownership Class".

          That very much described USA's healthcare system.

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

        • (Score: 5, Interesting) by fyngyrz on Monday March 12 2018, @12:06AM (2 children)

          by fyngyrz (6567) on Monday March 12 2018, @12:06AM (#651123) Journal

          The Libertarian and Green parties are on the ballot in most states.

          They are. But they haven't been offering anything sufficiently better, so they have never gotten my vote. I bloody well wish they would. Capital-L libertarians almost always leave me shaking my head at their callous outlooks; lower-case libertarians are rarely on the ballot.

          The green party has had some pretty severe problems too; for instance, until 2016, they were pushing homeopathy. From their then-planking:

          Greens support a wide range of health care services, not just traditional medicine, which too often emphasizes "a medical arms race" that relies upon high-tech intervention, surgical techniques and costly pharmaceuticals. Chronic conditions are often best cured by alternative medicine. We support the teaching, funding and practice of holistic health approaches and, as appropriate, the use of complementary and alternative therapies such as herbal medicines, homeopathy, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and other healing approaches.

          Idiots.

          Also: when there's someone like Trump on the ballot, I'm afraid that in order to be able to sleep at night, I have to vote for an opponent who has an actual chance of beating them.

          • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Monday March 12 2018, @12:51AM (1 child)

            by deimtee (3272) on Monday March 12 2018, @12:51AM (#651141) Journal

            Homeopathy is probably the correct treatment for hypochondria, and for any non-bacterial condition for which a patient is demanding antibiotics. The placebo effect is real, medicine should make use of it.

            --
            If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Monday March 12 2018, @01:34PM

              by fyngyrz (6567) on Monday March 12 2018, @01:34PM (#651319) Journal

              Homeopathy is probably the correct treatment for hypochondria, and for any non-bacterial condition for which a patient is demanding antibiotics.

              No. It isn't. Homeopathy is largely (ideally entirely) outside the realm of normal medical procedure and personnel.

              When you teach / encourage people to reach for homeopathic nostrums for whatever ails them, even when imaginary, then that's the path they will be familiar with and tend to lean towards. Then, when they are actually ill, they can end up without appropriate treatment and are considerably more likely to distribute disease to the rest of us.

              If the process is one that encourages fake treatments like homeopathy, and/or the "treatment" sourced outside actual medical channels with no one but quacks and marketroids in the line of prescribing / dispensing treatment, then appropriate remediation for the real thing can all too often go by the wayside.

              If someone thinks they are sick, they should see a doctor, not a shelf full of fake "remedies" marketed by the unscrupulous and/or stupid. The doctor, in turn should never mention homeopathy except in the context of "that is of no benefit to you, as it is absolutely without useful effect."

              Lastly, hypochondria is not an illness that can be cured by dispensing placebos, regardless of the patient's temporary adjustment of mental state. Treatment for it should be referred to a psychiatrist, rather than just pushing the problem down the road with a fake treatment. The objective of quality medical treatment is to solve problems; not to pretend to solve them.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 12 2018, @12:07AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 12 2018, @12:07AM (#651124)

          Neither of those is Anti-Capitalist.
          As Capitalism is the problem with USA, the Green Party is only a baby step in a different direction.

          The Libertarians are every bit as Capitalist as the Big 2, so, with them, there is no improvement WRT the root problem.

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 1) by realDonaldTrump on Monday March 12 2018, @12:06AM

      by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Monday March 12 2018, @12:06AM (#651122) Homepage Journal

      It's called the 8th Amendment, Azuma. That one says we can't do the cruel and unusual punishments. Cruel is fine. Unusual is fine. Both, that's not fine, why? Very special!

      Judge Roy Moore said something so interesting, he said let's repeal all the amendments after the first 10. But the 8th is a funny old one.

    • (Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Monday March 12 2018, @05:05PM (3 children)

      by Osamabobama (5842) on Monday March 12 2018, @05:05PM (#651425)

      If you have a problem with that idea, ask yourselves why.

      While you have identified a valid problem (that is, people ending up homeless) and proposed a way to make the situation more fair (removing disparity between outcomes for rich and poor), your solution makes the problem worse (bad outcomes for more people). We should actually want better.

      --
      Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 12 2018, @08:37PM (2 children)

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday March 12 2018, @08:37PM (#651514) Journal

        I will tell you the same thing I told the principal in 7th grade: two wrongs may not make a right, but they can stop a third wrong, or a fourth wrong, or a hundredth wrong.

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:07PM (1 child)

          by Osamabobama (5842) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:07PM (#651910)

          I can see how this might apply to a timely throat-punch, but I don't think the necessary feedback is strong enough in this case. Sure, the finance elite might take pause at doing anything that will put themselves out on the streets, but that wouldn't change the system that puts other people out on the streets.

          --
          Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
          • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday March 13 2018, @09:07PM

            by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @09:07PM (#652003) Journal

            Those are two different problems.

            Also, i think it would have more of a deterrent effect than you think, for the simple reason that white collar criminals, unlike for example a drunken murderer, are in possession of their rational faculties and are using them for long-term gain. This is also why I support the death penalty for heinous white collar crimes: it has a deterrent effect only to people who aren't desperate, impaired, and stupid.

            If enough of these greedy motherfuckers were turfed out of their companies, publicly humiliated for what they did, stripped of all assets, and dropped off at the nearest homeless shelter with a new identity and forced to start from scratch, I bet you the good money I don't have we'd see a big drop in this shit right quick.

            --
            I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @10:57PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @10:57PM (#651107)

    I think they meant that regular people can do all right and still not win. And go broke while braking no laws. And with the safety net getting hammered are left many times with nothing. I saw this in the 2008 downturn. Within two months about 20 houses in our 220 house neighborhood were empty. Some maybe from illegal loans but doubtful all. Some lost it all due to no work. I rented a property to a guy and his wife that had this. They lost work and just left the house and moved. Found work and wanted to rent and this red flag came up in our credit check. He had a job and we chalked it up to bad luck. They never missed a payment in 3yrs. When there credit rebounded they left to buy a house. But pharma bro? He gets club med? I think that and all his worth goes to soup kitchens. Same for the bankers who cheat. Just a regular outcome we regular folks have to endure when we don’t do wrong.