‘I Think I Can Get Probation.’ Martin Shkreli Unshaken After Fraud Conviction

“Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli isn’t worried about going to prison, despite a conviction Friday on fraud and conspiracy charges that could leave him jailed for over a year.

The former drug company and hedge fund executive answered questions during a livestream on his YouTube channel which he began almost immediately after jurors found him guilty on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.

“It doesn’t seem like life will change very much for Martin Shkreli, basically ever,” said Shkreli on the YouTube stream. “I think I can get probation. I think there’s a decent chance that there’s a complete vacation of the charges for any sentence.”

Shkreli also said that if he got any jail time, it would be at “club Fed,” a term that describes low-security prisons with less harsh environments than other facilities.

Shkreli was convicted after being accused of misleading investors about how he was using their money. He told “lies upon lies,” according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Alixandra Smith, who said Shkreli claimed he had $40 million in one of his funds when he only had about $300. The case was further complicated after some investors said during the trial that Shkreli’s scheme helped them make more money.

“What this trial proved is that I didn’t make money through illicit means,” Shkreli said during the post-trial livestream.

Shkreli first became infamous in 2015 as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals after raising the price of an AIDS treatment from $13.50 to $750. He gained further notoriety when it was revealed that he paid $2 million for the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Shkreli played part of the album on the livestream while speaking to a reporter from the New York Daily News who visited his apartment during the broadcast.

Although he was found guilty, Shkreli appeared to celebrate that he was let off on five of the eight counts. He said the Brooklyn jury that found him guilty him after five days of deliberation was “confused” about the accusations, calling the jurors “preposterous” and “absurd.”

“When the government comes after you and says they’ll put you away for 20 years … you feel pretty satisfied,” he said of the outcome.

Shkreli did admit that the case will make his future trickier to navigate. “If I wanted to run a hedge fund again, that would be practically impossible at this point. Unless we can get all three of these counts dropped on appeal.”