Martin Shkreli Will Stay Locked Up After Losing Sentence Appeal In Federal Court

BYAron A.1.6K Views
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Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli speaks to the press after the jury issued a verdict in his case at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, August 4, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Shkreli was found guilty on three of the eight counts involving securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.
"Pharma Bro" Shkreli will remain in prison.

Martin Shkreli got under everyone's skin in hip-hop after acquiring Wu-Tang one-of-one album and the then-unreleased version of Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV. That aggravated people but even before that, he was under fire for hiking the price on HIV medication by 5,000%. Karma did end up coming for him after he was locked up on security guard charges and it looks like he'll remain there for the rest of his seven-year sentence.

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The federal appeals court unanimously denied Martin Shkreli's to overturn his conviction for fraud charges. In addition to remaining in prison, a judge reminded him that he still needed to cough up $7.3M as well as a $75K fine and a restitution of $388,336. In his appeal, his attorneys accused the judge of confusing the jury with their instruction, claiming the jury was given, "the same instruction was given two different ways, as to two separate frauds with two disparate results, based on the same conduct."

Alixandra Smith of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern New York District said that the instruction wasn't confusing at all. In fact, Smith said the instructions provided more clarity. "It is hard to see how a more precise instruction could be somehow prejudicial or problematic than sort of a more general instruction," Smith said.

Looks like it'll be a while until Shkreli ends up free. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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