‘Pharma Bro’ being sentenced in fraud case

NEW YORK (AP) — “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli is in the courtroom to be sentenced on a securities fraud conviction.

A judge must weigh whether the pharmaceutical company CEO is a manipulator who conned wealthy investors or a misunderstood eccentric who made those same investors even wealthier.

The defense wants the judge to give Shkreli a sentence of 18 months or less because his investors in two failed hedge funds got all of their money back. Prosecutors say he deserves at least 15 years behind bars for lying to them.

Shkreli became notorious for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent and trolling critics on the internet with his snarky persona.

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12:03 a.m.

Is “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli (SHKREL’-ee) a manipulator who conned wealthy investors or a misunderstood eccentric who made those same investors even wealthier?

A federal judge in Brooklyn will have to weigh the conflicting portrayals of the former pharmaceutical company CEO on Friday at his sentencing on a securities fraud conviction.

The stakes are high: The defense wants the judge to give Shkreli a sentence of 18 months or less because his investors in two failed hedge funds got all of their money back. Prosecutors say he deserves at least 15 years behind bars for lying to them.

Shkreli became notorious for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent and trolling critics on the internet with his snarky “Pharma Bro” persona.

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