You might have heard of Martin Shkreli in 2015, when he raised the price of essential Aids drug Daraprim by 5,000%. If not, maybe you heard his name when he bought the Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, for $2 million. Maybe when you hear his name you recall his bizarre August Facebook posts, which asked his followers to obtain hair from Hillary Clinton’s head.
In the same year as the drug scandal, Shkreli was arrested on eight charges, three of which resulted in a guilty verdict: securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The convictions stem from the allegation that Shkreli made his millions lying to investors— in short, he misrepresented the health of his hedge funds, convincing investors to pump money into the failing startups. According to The Guardian, Shkreli coerced investors into providing more than $11 million over a period of five years, much of which was paid back with money from his company Retrophin.
Though Shkreli was first arrested in December of 2015, he was not found guilty until August of 2017. He has spent the six months between his sentencing and conviction in jail, time for which he will be credited. Once he is released, he will enter a three-year probationary period and pay $75,000 in fines. In the future, he will be legally prevented from holding a majority stake or executive position of a company.
After Shkreli’s conviction, his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, made his intent to argue strongly against prison time. However, when it came time for sentencing, his argument was thin: “He shouldn’t be sentenced simply for being Martin Shkreli.”
Judge Kiyo Matsumoto was not fazed by Brafman’s defense, despite a letter she received from Shkreli asking for leniency.
Matsumoto’s seven-year ruling is a compromise between the 15-year judgment desired by prosecutors and Brafman’s bid for no prison time. In her rationale, she cited his Clinton post and emails saying “Fuck the feds” written in prison. Together, the two incidents show that Shkreli’s behavior has not been deterred.