Experts: Lack of remorse could bite 'Pharma Bro'
NEW YORK (AP) — Less than an hour after a U.S. jury convicted Martin Shkreli of securities fraud, the so-called "Pharma Bro" was back at his New York City apartment doing what comes naturally: trash talking in a live-stream on YouTube.
The brash former pharmaceutical CEO, who's still out on bail, joked he won't be going to a hard-core prison — "No shanks" — and predicted his acquittal on some charges Friday will help him recover tens of millions of dollars he claims he's owed from a drug company he started.
"No real good can come from going on YouTube after a guilty verdict," said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice.
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto likely will factor in any lack of remorse and contrition at sentencing in federal court in Brooklyn, said Matthew Schwartz, a defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor who once worked for a Securities and Exchange Commission task force.
Shkreli was arrested in 2015 on charges he looted a drug company he founded, Retrophin, of $11 million in stock and cash to pay back investors in two failed hedge funds he ran.
Investors took the witness stand to accuse him of keeping them in the dark as his scheme unfolded, while the defense argued there wasn't any harm done because all of them got rich off of Retrophin stock.