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