Pharma bro Martin Shkreli sent directly to jail, judge calls him 'danger to society'
The pharma bro is now the pharma inmate.
Martin Shkreli was called a "danger to society" on Wednesday by a judge, who then canceled his bond release and put him in jail, according to numerous media reports.
Shkreli had been out on a $5 million bond following his conviction for securities fraud in early August.
Shkreli found himself back in court on Wednesday after publishing a Facebook post in which he called for his followers to get a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair. He promised a $5,000 reward to anyone who delivered the hair.
Shkreli had been awaiting sentencing after his conviction in federal court for misleading investors in his hedge fund, and then using cash and stock from one of his biotech companies to pay them back.
He was found guilty of three counts of securities fraud and acquitted of five other charges.
Brooklyn judge Kiyo Matsumoto at the hearing called Shkreli's Facebook post a "solicitation of assault." Clinton is currently on a tour promoting her new book.
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Shkreli had apologized for the Facebook post and sent a letter to the judge calling it an "awkward attempt at humor or satire."
It's hard to believe it's been almost exactly two years since Shkreli burst into the national consciousness after his drug company bought up the rights to a generic medication used by AIDS and cancer patients and increased the price from $13.50 to $750. At the time, Clinton, who was on the campaign trail, criticized his company for the price hike on Twitter, as had many others.
In just a few hours, Shkreli went from a young, unknown business executive to the poster child for everything wrong with the drug industry. He didn't handle the transition well.
Since then, Shkreli has remained in the spotlight thanks to his bizarre behavior and public statements. He often livestreams for hours at a time from his apartment and became a popular figure in the so-called "alt right." He also recently harassed journalists by purchasing internet domains related to their names and mocking them on the sites.
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
