As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Shkreli was today (March 9) given a seven-year sentence for “defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds.” The formal charge is securities fraud and the conviction was handed down by U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. According to the report, Shkreli cried in court and told the judge “I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me. I took down Martin Shkreli.” His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, reportedly told Judge Matsumoto “that he sometimes wants to hug Shkreli and sometimes wants to punch him in the face.”
However, as the judge made clear, Shkreli’s sentencing had nothing to do with his “self-cultivated public persona … nor his controversial statements about politics or culture.” Rather, Matsumoto called his crimes serious and agreed with prosecuting attorneys that “the 34-year-old was a master manipulator who conned wealthy investors.”
