Despite the appeals of criminal defense attorney Benjamin Brafman for a lighter sentence, “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli’ is going to prison for seven years.
“Specifically, he is a kind, caring and generous person who uses his time and effort to help those in need. If not warehoused in prison, Martin could literally save lives”, Brafman wrote in a letter to Brooklyn federal court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in a plea for a lighter sentence for the fraudster Shkreli.
“He is not evil or any of the other horrible things people have seen fit to say about him over the last several years…However, our society, our culture, and our judicial system can accommodate even Martin Shkreli”, Brafman continued in his unavailing petition.
Shkreli was convicted of defrauding a group of investors in two hedge funds he controlled by having claimed, among other things, that the funds were delivering healthy returns at a time when they were actually losing money, CNBC reported.
Shkreli gained infamous notoriety in 2015 when as CEO of Turing, he raised the price of its anti-parasite drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent, from $13.50 per pill to $750.
Recently, Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ruled that Shkreli’s criminal activity resulted in a loss of $10.4 million, which essentially dashed the hopes of a lighter sentence. Federal guidelines call for a higher sentence based on how much the losses for the defrauded victim were , The Jewish Voice previously reported.
He also was convicted of manipulating shares in another drug company he later founded, Retrophin, whose stock and cash he also used to repay swindled investors in his hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, CNBC reported.
Brafman, also wrote to Matsumoto that the $7.3 million forfeiture judgment against him on top of a maximum sentence of 15 years was “far too excessive a punishment, The NY Post reported.
In addition to 7 years in prison and the large asset forfeiture, Matsumbo ruled that Shkreli must undergo mental health treatment and pay an additional $750,000 fine.
As the judge handed down the sentence, the cocky 34-year hedge fund manager, broke into tears telling the packed courtroom and judge, “The only person to blame for me being here today is me”, The NY Post reported.
Shkreli’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman was also recently retained by Harvey Weinstein and recently was reported as saying “I think Harvey Weinstein is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever represented”, in an interview with The Sunday Times U.K.
By Austin Myers