“Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to 7 years in prison

“I took down Martin Shkreli with my disgraceful and shameful actions”, a sobbing Shkreli said Friday, his voice cracking and his address interrupted by the judge passing along a box of tissues. After being convicted last summer of defrauding investors, Shkreli faced more than a decade in prison.

“There is no conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli”.

“[It is about] repeated breaches of trust and repeated lies to his investors”.

Shkreli, known for his arrogant persona, broke down into tears and told the courtroom not to feel sorry for him.

Asked about his actions, he said: “On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and respectfully decline your question”. I know right from wrong.

“This is why most defence counsel instruct their client to appear modest and humble at their trial”. His company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the drug and immediately raised its price from $13.50 to $750 a tablet. The defense said it was a joke, but Matsumoto ruled it could be seen as “a solicitation of an assault”.

He would further irk the public by embracing his villain role and actively trolling both media and political figures through his social media presence and multiple live streams.

The time Shkreli spent in prison will be credited to his seven-year sentence. After his conviction, Matsumoto revoked his $5 million bailed after he offered his Facebook followers money to grab a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair.

In 2015, he purchased for US$2 million the sole edition of the ensemble’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which he put up for sale on eBay in September – while also threatening to “break this album in frustration”.

Judge Matsumoto has already ordered Shkreli to forfeit almost 7.4 million dollars to the federal government.

Nonetheless, the judge said, the sentence must be severe enough to make clear “that fraud and manipulation are serious offenses that will incur correspondibly serious penalties”.

In court filings, prosecutors argued that Shkreli’s remorse about misleading his investors was not to be believed.

Disgraced pharma executive Martin Shkreli will spend 84 months behind bars and forfeit $7.4 million, a NY judge ruled after hearing his tearful plea. Outside the court after the sentence, he added: “Could it have been worse?”

Shkreli was never convicted of anything related to his disgusting business of price gouging, but instead was convicted of unrelated charges.

“He victimises people without thinking about it”.