The now famous asshole “Pharma-Bro” Martin Shkreli has been found guilty of three counts of securities fraud, but he was acquitted of five other crimes related to his drug company.
He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. He will be sentenced at a later date. He said:
“I think we are delighted in many ways. I’m delighted the jury did its job … maybe they found one of two broomsticks, but at the end of the day we were acquitted of the most important charges in this case.”
United States Attorney Bridget Rhode, whose office prosecuted Shkreli, said:
“We’re gratified as we stand here today at the jury’s verdict. Justice has been served.”
Shkreli’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman said that he thinks the verdict will carry a more lenient sentence than if he had been found of looting from his drug company. He said he was “90 percent pleased” with the outcome.
The evidence showed the Shkreli duped multiple investors into putting in millions of dollars into two hedge funds he ran. He quickly lost a lot of it, and he used it to capitalize his drug company. When the investors asked for their money back, Shkreli brushed them off for months. Prosecutors said he then looted the stock of his drug company to pay back the investors.
"Pharma Bro" Shkreli after trial: "This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, maybe they found 1 or 2 broomsticks" https://t.co/E2f3jnPt0N
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 4, 2017
These charges are unrelated to his first claim to fame. He raised the price of Daraprim, an antiparasite medicine, by more than 5,000 percent back in 2015. This was while he was heading another company, Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Screengrab from YouTube