Infamous former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli was convicted on three counts of deceiving his hedge fund investors today. He could face up to 20 years in prison for his alleged role in these crimes, but the raunchy whistleblower dubbed ‘Pharma Bro’ for his wild antics isn’t taking his sentence lying down.
“My investors made three-to-five times their money without any aid from any settlement agreement. Some made ten times or more than that of their original investment after they did receive their settlements,” Shkreli said after the verdict, thanking the jury for not convicting him of harsher charges as well as his legal team.
Regarding his conviction, Shkreli said, “We have some work to do… This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, and maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at the end of the day, we’ve been acquitted of the most important charges of this case, and I’m delighted to report that.”
Shkreli was ultimately guilty of two counts of securities fraud and another count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Prosecutors were even forced to admit during the court proceedings that Shkreli’s decision-making ultimately paid off, even though his innovative investment style may have violated capricious and arbitrary federal rules.
“Just because the defendant got lucky and Retrophin became a success years later” that doesn’t excuse fraud, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis said to the jury, according to a Washington Post report. “Martin Shkreli doesn’t think the rules doesn’t apply to him, that the law doesn’t apply to him. Unfortunately for him, it does.”
Clearly, this was another sad example of federal prosecutors wanting to make a high-profile example of someone they saw as a public pariah for public relations purposes more than anything else. With this verdict, Shkreli has become the latest victim of federal tyranny.
“He’s likely going to second guess his decision to not plea and he’ll have a long time to think about it,” said David Chase, a former Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutor. “Some offers from the government are no brainers that make sense and others aren’t. Some defendants feel they are better off rolling the dice.”
If the charges stand, Shkreli is expected to receive a sentence much more lenient than the 20 year maximum. He will appeal the charges, and take the feds on yet again in the court of law if he has the chance.
He deserves it