Martin Shkreli Cries While Sentenced to 7 Years of Jail

After the disgraced pharma executive was ordered to forfeit more than $7 million in assets for security fraud, Martin Shkreli will be serving a lengthly jail sentence. Shkreli, most infamous for jacking up the price of a lifesaving HIV drug, was sentenced on Friday to seven years in prison for defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds.

Shkreli has become well known for his love of trolling critics online and giving speeches with provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, and offering to pay his Twitter followers $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair. His persona did not match his demeanor as he cried and apologized to U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto for his dishonesty to investors. 

"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," he said in court. "I took down Martin Shkreli." He also apologized to his investors. 

"This case is not about Mr. Shkreli's self-cultivated public persona ... nor his controversial statements about politics or culture," the judge asserted, stating his sentencing is not a reaction to his online antics or pharmacuetical ethics, but rather the seriousness of his crimes. 

Shkreli was also fined $75,000 along with the $7.3 million he was ordered to forfeit in a brokerage account, along with personal assets, including a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album. He had previously boasted the tracks were bought for $2 million. 

Prosecuters requested the broker serve 15 years in prison, while his lawyers argued that his dishonesty ended up making his investors more money in the end. They claimed he deserved 18 months or less because they got more than their money back from stock Shkreli gave them in a successful drug company.