The sentence is in. Despite pleas for sentencing mercy, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli will spend up to seven years in prison on federal securities fraud charges.
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, who also fined Shkreli $75,000, handed down the decision Friday afternoon after a hearing that began with a request for leniency from Shkreli’s lawyer, reports say.
“I’ve got my begging voice on,” Shkreli lawyer Benjamin Brafman told the judge, as quoted by Reuters.
Shkreli, notorious for a demeanor that’s been labeled “cocky,” “insolent” and “remorseless,” cried as he addressed the judge, saying that “the only person to blame for me being here today is me.”
"I took down Martin Shkreli,” he said.
While the seven-year sentence is far above the 12 to 18 months Shkreli’s lawyers sought, it’s also well below the 15-plus years prosecutors have been eyeing. And the time he’s already spent in jail—about six months—will count toward the sentence.
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A New York jury convicted Shkreli back in August of three of eight charges, including securities fraud. He was released on a $5 million bond that the judge later revoked after Shkreli served up a social media post offering $5,000 to whomever could bring him a lock of Hillary Clinton’s hair.
It was Shkreli’s 5,000% price hike on HIV-related drug Daraprim, though, that in September 2015 earned him the title of “most hated man in America” and made headlines around the globe.