Ian Patrick, FISM News
Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to seven years in jail beginning in 2018, was released from prison early on Wednesday.
His release was announced by his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, and later confirmed by the low-security prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. In a statement, Brafman said “Martin Shkreli has been released from Allenwood prison and transferred to a BOP halfway house after completing all programs that allowed for his prison sentence to be shortened.
“While in the halfway house I have encouraged Mr. Shkreli to make no further statement, nor will he or I have any additional comments at this time,” the statement continued as reported by ABC News.
Shkreli became infamous in 2015 after he raised the price of the anti-malaria drug Daraprim from $17.50 to $750 per tablet – a 4,200% increase – earning him the nickname “Pharma bro.”
Daraprim is commonly used as part of a cocktail treatment for individuals with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Despite being widely criticized, Shkreli remained unapologetic for the move saying he was only charging insurance companies and distributors the high prices and he would give the pill for free to anyone who asked.
In 2017 Shkreli was convicted of defrauding investors of two hedge funds that he ran, MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare Management. He was also convicted of plotting to defraud investors for the drugmaker Retrophin Inc. where he served as chief executive. He was set to serve a full seven years in prison prior to his early release.
Picked up this guy hitchhiking. Says he’s famous. pic.twitter.com/7XrQaII7lq
— Edmund Sullivan (@edmundsullivan) May 18, 2022
Shkreli was also sentenced at the time to pay a $75,000 fine and forfeit $7.36 million of his money. To help pay off the forfeiture, the government sold a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan record in July that Shkreli previously bought at auction for $2 million.
Back in May of 2020, Shkreli had petitioned to be released from jail to help work on a cure for the virus that causes COVID-19. U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ruled that Shkreli should not be released saying she did not believe Shkreli’s release “will protect the public.”
In January of this year, Shkreli received a life ban from the drug industry and was ordered to pay another $64.6 million for his attempts to inhibit generic alternatives for Daraprim from hitting the shelves. The judge who oversaw his criminal trial in 2017 then permanently blocked Shkreli “from serving as an officer or director of public companies” in February of this year.