The corporate lawyer convicted in 2017 of aiding in the fraud schemes of pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by a federal judge. The sentence, handed down on Friday in a Brooklyn courtroom, came after Shkreli himself was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the same fraud.
Evan Greebel was convicted of conspiring to commit wire fraud and securities fraud after aiding Shkreli in misleading investors in hedge funds Shkreli ran. Before facing fraud charges, Shkreli seemed to revel in fostering an image as a Wall Street supervillain, with antics ranging from massively increasing the price of a life-saving malaria drug to disrespecting the Wu-Tang Clan. Shkreli’s toxic public profile may have influenced both his and Greebel’s conviction and sentencing despite the fact that, after a long game of financial three-card Monte, many of Shkreli’s hedge fund investors ultimately turned a profit.
Prosecutors had sought as much as five years prison time for Greebel, according to the Wall Street Journal. Greebel’s lawyers argued for no prison time, citing extensive evidence of Greebel’s good character, and the near-certain end of his career as a lawyer.
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Greebel has also been ordered to repay close to $10.5 million to Retrophin, a biotech company that Shkreli launched. Shkreli used Retrophin stock as part of his complex manuevering to misrepresent returns on investments in his unrelated hedge funds.
Greebel’s conviction and sentencing have significant implications for legal counsel advising clients who engage in criminal activity. Greebel’s lawyers had tried to argue that Shkreli alone was liable for the fraud, and had essentially duped Greebel into collaborating. But Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto rejected that argument, calling Greebel’s actions “a pattern and practice of deceit.”
During his sentencing hearing, according to the Journal, Greebel said that “I will regret every day of my life the day I met Martin Shkreli.”