Martin Shkreli, the “Pharma Bro” who gained notoriety for unapologetically raising drug prices, has been released from federal prison in Pennsylvania and transferred to a halfway house.
Shkreli was sentenced in 2018 to 7 years in prison after being convicted of securities fraud for lying to investors and for manipulating shares of Retrophin Inc., a biotech company he founded. He was released early from a low-security federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.
“While in the halfway house I have encouraged Mr. Shkreli to make no further statement, nor will he or I have any additional comments at this time,” his lawyer Ben Brafman said in a statement.
Photos of Shkreli, 39, popped up Wednesday on the Twitter account of Edmund Sullivan, who was pictured next to him wearing a “Free Shkreli” t-shirt. A Facebook account bearing Shkreli’s name also posted a photo of him Wednesday with a caption saying “Getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison.”
Shkreli sought early release two years ago, telling a federal judge he “has been conducting significant research into developing molecules to inhibit the coronavirus” and would continue doing so if set free. The judge rejected that bid.
Shkreli was freed from prison about four months ahead of his Sept. 14 release date. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons gives inmates time off for good behavior and also likely credited Shkreli for the six months he served in a federal jail in Brooklyn after asking followers for a strand of hair from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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