Martin Shkreli: Pharma Bro Will Stay in Prison After Losing Appeal

Martin Shkreli, the infamous “pharma bro” who jacked up prices on lifesaving HIV/AIDS medication and earned himself a seven year prison sentence for fraud, will remain in jail after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit affirmed his 2017 conviction, NPR reports.

The three judges overseeing Shkreli’s appeal all ruled against him. Along with having to complete his seven-year bid, the judges also affirmed the ruling that came with Shkreli’s conviction that he would have to forfeit over $7.3 million in assets — a sum that included the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which he bought for $2 million. The appeals court also ordered Shkreli to pay $388,336 in restitution and fork over a $75,000 fine.

Shkreli was found guilty of misleading investors about the stock performance of his hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, while he also used money from his pharmaceutical company Retrophin to pay off investors and personal debts. In total, Shkreli reportedly cheated investors out of over $11 million between 2009 and 2014.

During his appeals hearing, Shkreli’s lawyers attempted to argue that his trial judge had confused the jury with deliberation instructions, but, per CNBC, the appeals panel ruled, “The instruction given here correctly stated the law.” Shkreli’s lawyers also tried argue that the approximately $7 million in assets he had to forfeit was inappropriate because not all of his hedge fund investors testified and many of them saw returns on their investment anyway.

According to a Wall Street Journal report published in March, Shkrelli has kept busy during his first year in prison, while potentially breaking some rules along the way. He has reportedly used what would likely be a contraband cell phone to participate in the day-to-day operations of Phoenixus AG, the drug company he helped found, to the point of even firing a former executive from jail.