Federal prosecutors say a judge should not release convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli early from federal prison, even though the former pharmaceutical company CEO says he plans to come up with a cure for the new coronavirus if sprung.
The feds panned his claims Wednesday as typical “delusional self-aggrandizing behavior” by Shkreli, who was derisively dubbed “Pharma Bro” by the press and widely reviled for gouging the price of an AIDs-fighting drug in 2015.
“Even if Shkreli were somehow able to develop a potential cure, there is no evidence that he would in fact use it to ‘contribute to the betterment of society,’ as he claims, rather than to enrich himself to the maximum extent possible, including by concealing his work or declining to provide such a cure to others unless he were paid an exorbitant sum,” wrote prosecutors in the harshly worded court papers.
Shkreli, who also ran a hedge fund, is about halfway through his seven-year sentence for securities fraud for lying to his investors and trying to manipulate his company’s stock prices. He applied to a Brooklyn federal judge for compassionate release last week — hoping to continue work he has done on the inside to develop a cure for the novel coronavirus.
“Very few companies have come forward and said they will make actual antivirals for COVID-19. They have said they will make vaccines, but not cures for those infected. Mr. Shkreli is trying and he may succeed,” wrote his lawyers in the application.
Shkreli made headlines when he jacked up the price of a life-saving HIV drug called Daraprim by 5,000%, from about $13.50 to $750 per pill, while he was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. His federal case had nothing to do with that move.
The feds cited Shkreli’s notorious price-jacking scheme to highlight their argument that he may not be the best person to find the cure for COVID-19.
Shkreli is 37 and in good health, federal prosecutors noted, and is not at high risk of serious complications or death if he were to contract the coronavirus.
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