"Pharma Bro" Shkreli arrives at federal prison
The pharmaceutical-industry entrepreneur vilified for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug has been placed in a low-security federal prison in New Jersey.
Martin Shkreli was moved Tuesday from the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center in New York to the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix. According to its handbook, there are no bars, towers, or locks on rooms. Inmates must demonstrate a high degree of responsibility, and "the expectations are that each inmate will comply."
Shkreli was dubbed "Pharma Bro" for his loutish behavior, including raising the price of a critical drug, Daraprim, by 5,000 percent from $13.50 to $750 dollars per pill. He failed to apologize for the action, describing making money for his shareholders as his primary duty.
Nevertheless, it was his actions as a hedge fund manager -- rather than pharmaceutical CEO -- that led to his 7-year prison sentence. The judge also fined him $75,000. At his sentencing, the judge expressed concern that a minimal sentence might not deter him in future.
The 35-year-old Shkreli was found guilty in August of lying to investors in two failed hedge funds and cheating them out of millions.
