Martin Shkreli has been convicted of three of the eight charges he was facing:
A federal jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., has convicted former pharmaceutical executive and "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli of securities fraud.
He was found guilty Friday on three counts — two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud — out of a total of eight counts. Shkreli is best known for increasing the price of a life-saving drug for people with AIDS by 5,000 percent, from $13.50 to $750 per pill, when he was head of Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Shkreli has not been sentenced and faces up to 20 years in prison, as WSHU's Charles Lane tells our Newscast unit. Still, he declared victory when he was acquitted of what he termed the most "important charges."
"After the verdict was read, Shkreli and his lawyer said they were pleased and anticipated a light sentencing with minimal fines and no jail time," Lane reported. "During the trial, Shkreli openly mocked prosecutors and ultimately never took the stand in his defense."
What caused news outlets to start calling him "pharma bro"?
Also at Scientific American, Reuters , The New York Times, and The Guardian(opinion).
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Following Martin Shkreli's conviction for securities fraud, he has listed his unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album on eBay. He purchased the album for $2 million in 2015 and has repeatedly threatened to destroy it:
Martin Shkreli may finally release the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, that he purchased back in 2015. The widely despised pharma bro has listed the album on eBay and is currently taking bids. At the time of publish, offers are hovering around $100,000.
The sale includes the double CD and a "finely crafted booklet," as well as legal expenses up to $25,000 "to ensure the final purchase details are mutually agreeable." In the listing, spotted by Page Six, Shkreli writes that he "decided to purchase this album as a gift to the Wu-Tang Clan for their tremendous musical output. Instead I received scorn from at least one of their (least-intelligent) members, and the world at large failed to see my purpose of putting a serious value behind music. I will be curious to see if the world values music nearly as much as I have." Shkreli claims that he will donate half of the sale proceeds to medical research.
[In the listing], Shkreli notes that "at any time I may cancel this sale and I may even break this album in frustration."
Martin Shkreli continues to run business from prison, report says
Martin Shkreli reportedly runs his pharmaceutical company from prison on a contraband smartphone. Shkreli continues to run the remains of the drug company that once earned him the title of most hated man in America, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. He was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy in 2017. He has served 16 months of a seven-year sentence in federal prison.
Shkreli is reportedly running Phoenixus AG, formerly known as Turing Pharmaceuticals. In 2015, when Shkreli was the CEO, Turing raised the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim used by AIDS patients from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill. The price hike sparked a public outcry.
The Journal says that Shkreli anticipates the company will grow more successful while he's in prison. He believes the company, of which he owns 40%, could be worth $3.7 billion by the time he gets out of prison.
On one recent phone call, Shkreli fired Phoenixus CEO Kevin Mulleady, the Journal reported. Shkreli reportedly later changed his mind, agreeing to suspend Mulleady rather than fire him.
Cartoon villain performance art.
Previously: Martin Shkreli Points Fingers at Other Pharmaceutical Companies
Martin Shkreli Convicted of Securities Fraud Charges, Optimistic About Sentencing
Martin Shkreli Lists Unreleased Wu-Tang Clan Album on eBay
Martin Shkreli's $5 Million Bail Revoked for Facebook Post Seeking Hillary Clinton's Hair
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
Related: Drug Firm Offers $1 Version of $750 Turing Pharmaceuticals Pill
Mylan Overcharged U.S. Government on EpiPens
EpiPen Maker is Facing Shareholder Backlash
FDA Has Named Names of Pharma Companies Blocking Cheaper Generics [Updated]
U.S. Hospitals Band Together to Form Civica Rx, a Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Company
Infamous ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli is yet again in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, which announced today that the convicted fraudster has failed to cooperate with the commission's investigation into whether he violated his lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry by starting a company last year called "Druglike, Inc."
[...]
At the center of the dispute is whether Shkreli's co-founding of Druglike runs afoul of his lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry, which was in response to Shkreli's infamous move to raise the price of the cheap, life-saving anti-parasitic drug, Daraprim, from $17.50 a pill to $750 a pill in 2015.
[...]
The FTC also noted in its court filing that Shkreli has so far failed to pay any of the $64.6 million in disgorgement he was ordered to pay alongside his lifetime ban.
Previously:
Martin Shkreli Launches Blockchain-Based Drug Discovery Platform
Martin Shkreli Accused of Running Business From Prison With a Smuggled Smartphone
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
Martin Shkreli's $5 Million Bail Revoked for Facebook Post Seeking Hillary Clinton's Hair
Martin Shkreli Lists Unreleased Wu-Tang Clan Album on eBay
Martin Shkreli Convicted of Securities Fraud Charges, Optimistic About Sentencing
Martin Shkreli Points Fingers at Other Pharmaceutical Companies
Related:
U.S. Hospitals Band Together to Form Civica Rx, a Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Company
FDA Has Named Names of Pharma Companies Blocking Cheaper Generics [Updated]
EpiPen Maker is Facing Shareholder Backlash
Mylan Overcharged U.S. Government on EpiPens
Drug Firm Offers $1 Version of $750 Turing Pharmaceuticals Pill
In an effort to avoid being held in contempt of court, former pharmaceutical executive and convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli made an eyebrow-raising argument to a federal judge Friday, stating that his company Druglike, which he previously described as a "drug discovery software platform," was not engaged in drug discovery. As such, he argued he is not in violation of his sweeping lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and seven states urged a federal judge in New York to hold Shkreli in contempt for allegedly failing to cooperate with an investigation into whether he violated the ban. The FTC said Shkreli failed to turn over requested documents related to Druglike and sit for an interview on the matter.
In the filing Friday, Shkreli claims that he responded to the FTC's requests "promptly and in good faith."
Previously:
FTC: Shkreli May Have Violated Lifetime Pharma Ban, Should be Held in Contempt
Martin Shkreli Launches Blockchain-Based Drug Discovery Platform
Shkreli Released From Prison to Halfway House After Serving <5 of 7 Years
Martin Shkreli Accused of Running Business From Prison With a Smuggled Smartphone
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
Martin Shkreli's $5 Million Bail Revoked for Facebook Post Seeking Hillary Clinton's Hair
Martin Shkreli Lists Unreleased Wu-Tang Clan Album on eBay
Martin Shkreli Convicted of Securities Fraud Charges, Optimistic About Sentencing
Martin Shkreli Points Fingers at Other Pharmaceutical Companies
Related:
"Pure and Deadly Greed": Lawmakers Slam Pfizer's 400% Price Hike on COVID Shots
U.S. Hospitals Band Together to Form Civica Rx, a Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Company
FDA Has Named Names of Pharma Companies Blocking Cheaper Generics [Updated]
EpiPen Maker is Facing Shareholder Backlash
Mylan Overcharged U.S. Government on EpiPens
Drug Firm Offers $1 Version of $750 Turing Pharmaceuticals Pill
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @05:05AM (1 child)
The article doesn't immediately list the specifics of the supposed crimes of which he was convicted.
That is a good indication that those supposed crimes are bogus; they are just technicalities by which angry, butthurt Statists are able to make him bend the knee.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:30AM
Fortunately for <insert preferred benefactors here> news outlets are not responsible for recording or maintaining the details of alleged and/or proven allegations. That task has recently been assigned to a new sector of the economy: the criminal justice system.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Sunday August 06 2017, @05:33AM (5 children)
Martin Shkreli is going to jail. I have no doubt the judge disliked his antics during the trial and will throw some sort of book at him. He won't get the maximum but he won't get off with no jail time. There is a federal prison in his future.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @06:21AM (4 children)
He's going to prison by the merits of the case?
No! Of course not!
He's going to prison because of the social whims of a garbage-bag-wearing bureaucrat.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @07:34AM (2 children)
He is going to jail because:
"Jurors convicted Mr. Shkreli of three of the eight counts: securities fraud in connection with his hedge fund MSMB Capital; securities fraud in connection with MSMB Healthcare; and conspiracy to commit securities fraud related to the Retrophin stock scheme, in which he tried to quietly control a huge portion of Retrophin stock.
He was acquitted of counts one and two, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud regarding MSMB Capital; counts four and five, the same charges with MSMB Healthcare; and count seven, conspiracy to commit wire fraud with regard to defrauding Retrophin by using funds from it to pay MSMB investors.
Count seven carried the most weight for sentencing, charging Mr. Shkreli with defrauding Retrophin by creating sham consulting agreements and unauthorized settlement agreements to pay back MSMB investors. It was associated with the biggest loss, which judges take into account when deciding sentences in fraud cases, said Benjamin Brafman, Mr. Shkreli’s lawyer.
He showed outward relief when Judge Matsumoto said he was not guilty on count seven, mouthing “Yes” and patting Mr. Brafman on the back. When she said he was guilty of count eight, the Retrophin securities-fraud conspiracy, he hung his head."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:56AM (1 child)
Then get told they can't provide drugs to him due to budget cuts and the extraordinary cost of the necessary pharmaceuticals.
Too bad ensuring poetic justice isn't part of 'The America Way'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @10:43AM
Wishing rape on someone is just wrong. Yes, I'm aware he endangered lives and people's quality of life by price gauging a drug used to treat HIV, but rape is always wrong.
For someone who believes the rules and laws of society don't apply to him, being forced to live within the rules set established by the prison system will be very unpleasant. His attitude will probably get him into plenty of fights, and his physical stature will ensure he regrets them and lives in fear. The guards will certainly treat him poorly.
During his prison stay - which will hopefully be many years, with more time tacked on for bad behavior - he will fear that someone will be pilfering his ill gotten gains. I hope he's right.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @07:44PM
Hear! Hear!
We'll never get ahead if we throw job creators and innovators like Shkreli in jail! This is worse than Venezuela! The communists are in charge! If not for people like Shkreli, Daraprim would never have been invented! Look just how ungrateful those homosexuals are for his hard work!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @06:18AM
"Troll"? Well, then, I guess it's in my nature to share these thoughts a second time.
The article doesn't immediately list the specifics of the supposed crimes of which he was convicted.
That is a decent indication that those supposed crimes are bogus; they are just technicalities by which angry, butthurt Statists are able to make him bend the knee.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Sunday August 06 2017, @06:23AM (5 children)
I think the propagation of this nickname is more interesting than the news story itself. I suspect Reuters or some other news source, as a lot of outlets pick up their stories from these sources. I'm really interested in knowing where it came from, and who has the ability to inject these sorts of memes into the point of origin.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @06:34AM
You remember all those people who majored in the Liberal Arts and Crafts? Yeah. One of these people is who has the power to do so now.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:05AM
You remember all those people who majored in the Liberal Arts and Crafts? Yeah. One of those people is who has the power to do so now.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Sunday August 06 2017, @02:19PM (1 child)
I saw a video of his -- I believe one of the ones he made about Hillary Clinton's alleged Parkinson's -- in which he acted like "pharma bro" was a nickname his internet fan base uses for him. I don't remember if he claimed a specific origin or not, and I lack the time to hunt the video down at the moment. I bet that this started on the internet and moved to print journalism, whether it was a follower or a Shkreli sockpuppet who coined it.
(Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Monday August 07 2017, @01:47AM
Given the kind of person he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he has more stories over the years about how the nickname came about. It does appear to be a result of his twitter activities which the media then carried over into their narrative.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @10:11PM
You remember all those people who majored in the Liberal Arts and Crafts? Yeah. One of those people is who now has the power to do so.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:20AM
"Troll"? Well, then, I guess it's in my nature to share these thoughts a third time.
The article doesn't immediately list the specifics of the supposed crimes of which he was convicted.
That is a decent indication that those supposed crimes are bogus; they are just technicalities by which angry, butthurt Statists are able to make him bend the knee.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @09:04AM (1 child)
The punk is an asshole, but the real culprit is the system that allow suppliers of out-of-patent but small-market drugs to exercise monopoly power - it's a systemic problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @09:51AM
Maybe but that isn't what he was on trial for.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:01PM (2 children)
If you're a rather small fish sitting on a gold mine, and you try to be a good capitalist and exploit it in a politically insensitive way, some prosecutor is going to get a hard on for you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:54PM (1 child)
Again, the pharma thing is not what he was on trial for. He defrauded his investors in another business of his.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @09:38PM
Sure. It's completely unrelated. Just like when somebody is a thorn to the government, and they end up randomly having their taxes audited.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @10:08PM
"Troll"? Well, then, I guess it's in my nature to share these thoughts a fourth time.
The article doesn't immediately list the specifics of the supposed crimes of which he was convicted.
That is a decent indication that those supposed crimes are bogus; they are just technicalities by which angry, butthurt Statists are able to make him bend the knee.