Martin Shkreli Is Jailed for Seeking a Hair From Hillary Clinton
- 7 years ago
Martin Shkreli Is Jailed for Seeking a Hair From Hillary Clinton
Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who is awaiting sentencing for a fraud conviction, was sent to jail on Wednesday after a federal judge revoked his bail
because he had offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair.
Although Mr. Shkreli edited the post to say that he had meant it to be satirical, and he later took it down altogether, prosecutors contended
that there was a risk that one of Mr. Shkreli’s social media followers would take the post seriously and act on it.
Mr. Shkreli’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, argued at the hearing
that Mr. Shkreli was not violent and that the post had been “a momentary lapse in judgment.”
Mr. Shkreli, he said, deserved another chance.
At the hearing in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto said that Mr. Shkreli’s post could be perceived as a true threat.
Mr. Shkreli, 34, gained notoriety as a pharmaceutical executive for increasing the price of a lifesaving drug, Daraprim, by 5,000 percent.
“Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton.”
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Mr. Shkreli’s online offer last week prompted prosecutors to request that his bail be revoked — and the Secret Service to investigate.
Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who is awaiting sentencing for a fraud conviction, was sent to jail on Wednesday after a federal judge revoked his bail
because he had offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair.
Although Mr. Shkreli edited the post to say that he had meant it to be satirical, and he later took it down altogether, prosecutors contended
that there was a risk that one of Mr. Shkreli’s social media followers would take the post seriously and act on it.
Mr. Shkreli’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, argued at the hearing
that Mr. Shkreli was not violent and that the post had been “a momentary lapse in judgment.”
Mr. Shkreli, he said, deserved another chance.
At the hearing in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto said that Mr. Shkreli’s post could be perceived as a true threat.
Mr. Shkreli, 34, gained notoriety as a pharmaceutical executive for increasing the price of a lifesaving drug, Daraprim, by 5,000 percent.
“Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton.”
Sign up to receive an email from as soon as important news breaks around the world.
Mr. Shkreli’s online offer last week prompted prosecutors to request that his bail be revoked — and the Secret Service to investigate.