Infamous drug price gouger and recently convicted felon Martin Shkreli is eating a rare slice of humble pie. Or, well, at least some “please-don’t-revoke-my-bail” pie following a bizarre social media post in which he offered $5,000 (per hair) to anyone who would obtain and deliver to him a lock from former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during her book tour—a missive that led prosecutors to request he be thrown in jail.
“I wanted to personally apologize to this Court and my lawyers for the aggravation that my recent postings have caused,” Shkreli wrote in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto dated September 11, as CNBC’s Dan Mangan reported Tuesday. “I understand now, that some may have read my comments about Mrs. Clinton as threatening, when that was never my intention when making those comments. I used poor judgment but never intended to cause alarm or promote any act of violence whatsoever.”
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Shkreli was convicted on three criminal securities fraud and conspiracy charges by a Brooklyn jury last month following a circus of a trial where numerous prospective jurors were dismissed for harboring strong opinions on Shkreli’s decision to hike the list price of a drug used by HIV/AIDS and cancer patients by 5,000% in 2015. The price gouging actually had nothing to do with Shkreli’s federal charges and subsequent convictions, which centered on a separate company run by the hedge funder-turned-biotech executive. Other jurors had heard about the bombastic Shkreli’s antics with an exclusive Wu-Tang Clan album, which he bought for $2 million in auction and has since held hostage on eBay.
Since his conviction, Shkreli has taken to blowing off steam via social media. He was banned from Twitter at the beginning of the year for harassing a female journalist. But the post that brought him to prosecutors’ attention and led the Secret Service to launch an investigation centered on a since-deleted Facebook post from last week. “The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets. So on HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her… Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained,” read the post.
Prosecutors stated that, despite Shkreli’s assertion the post was “satire,” it led the Secret Service to expend “significant additional resources to ensure Secretary Clinton’s protection.”
“I apologize for my behavior and ask you respectfully not to change my bail status so that I may continue to assist my attorneys in preparing for my sentencing,” Shkreli wrote in his letter to the judge.