“Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli was released early

Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager who became a symbol of Wall Street greed after raising the price of a drug by 5,000%, was released early after being sentenced to seven years in prison for financial fraud, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FOB) said Wednesday. ).

Shkreli was released from a federal low-security jail in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, transferred to a community jail and supervised by the office, a BOP spokesman told Forbes.

Shkreli’s release date from BOP surveillance is scheduled for September 14, 2022, according to the spokesman.

Shkreli’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, told the Washington Post that he had been released early after “completing all the programs that allowed him to reduce his prison sentence.”

Brafman said Shkreli was being transferred to a BOP reintegration center and added that he encouraged Shkreli not to make further statements.

Shkreli posted a photo of himself on Facebook on Wednesday morning with the caption: “Getting out of the real jail is easier than getting out of the jail on Twitter.”

Shkreli became famous and acquired the nickname “Pharma Bro” in 2015 when his pharmaceutical company Turing acquired Daraprim, an antiparasitic drug that is sometimes prescribed to HIV patients, and increased its price from $ 13.50 per tablet to $ 750. dollars.

Shkreli then defended the price increase, saying: “If there was a company that sold an Aston Martin for the price of a bicycle and we bought this company and asked to charge Toyota prices, I do not think that should be a crime.” The FBI arrested Shkreli in 2017 on charges of securities fraud not related to the Daraprim dispute. He was found guilty of defrauding investors and sentenced to seven years in prison.

$ 64.6 million: Such was the fine imposed on Shkreli in a separate antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission and seven states. He was also banned from entering the pharmaceutical industry for life.