Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who gained infamy for a 5000% increase in the cost of a life saving medication, is back on the streets. He’s been released early from federal prison, as was initially revealed in a random tweet.
Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison for securities fraud. He ran each of his successive businesses like a ponzi scheme, using the new funding from a new company to payoff investors from his old companies.
He was sentenced to prison in 2017 for seven years, and yet, he appears to be out today.
Martin Shkreli is out of jail. The market can heal now.pic.twitter.com/Qm1xMwIZJt— \ud83c\udd7f\ufe0fhatBudA (@\ud83c\udd7f\ufe0fhatBudA) 1652885874
For people that are celebrating the release of Martin Shkreli from prison here\u2019s a refresher on the scumbag that raised the price of HIV drugs 5,000% overnightpic.twitter.com/BITNZrkpaA— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@Wu-Tang Is For The Children) 1652894575
@commentiquette There is great work to be done— Quinton Reviews\ud83c\udfac (@Quinton Reviews\ud83c\udfac) 1652898895
The main stream media made Martin Shkreli a scapegoat so they can pretend he's the sole issue with the drug affordability instead of actually facing systemic problems in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.\n\nHe's undeniably a douche with a very punchable face though lolhttps://twitter.com/edmundsullivan/status/1526904327620665345\u00a0\u2026— Right Wing Cope (@Right Wing Cope) 1652902539
It was first revealed that Shkreli was no longer in prison in a viral tweet. Edmond Sullivan shared a photo of himself and Shkreli on Twitter.
Sullivan joked:
“Picked up this guy hitchhiking. Say's he's famous.”
Picked up this guy hitchhiking. Says he\u2019s famous.pic.twitter.com/7XrQaII7lq— Edmund Sullivan (@Edmund Sullivan) 1652877334
A surprising number of users greeted the news with enthusiasm and celebrations. This included Christie Smythe, a former Bloomberg reporter who supposedly fell in love with Shkreli after covering him.
Smythe said:
“HOW MANY JOURNALISTS have claimed ‘everyone’ hates Martin Shkreli and he has no ‘fans?’ But we all know that’s not true. You can see that today.”
That didn’t stop others from reminding people what Shkreli was really all about.
In case you forgot, Martin Shkreli deserves nothing but pain and suffering.— Facebook_is_a_hategroup (@Facebook_is_a_hategroup) 1652888709
Actual Supervillain Martin Shkrelihttps://twitter.com/xamaximus/status/1525104619688534017\u00a0\u2026— \u300eMrNIGGASHILLMan\u300f (@\u300eMrNIGGASHILLMan\u300f) 1652467315
Doesn\u2019t make what he did any better— Always on the Slang (@Always on the Slang) 1652892873
rich white justice— Dan \u201cNoodle\u201d Backslide (@Dan \u201cNoodle\u201d Backslide) 1652908098
Martin Shkreli, the man who bought the $2M Wu-Tang album & Tha Carter V has been released from prison.\n\nHip-Hop just got interesting again.pic.twitter.com/fJPKTB5279— hy (@hy) 1652892037
A REMINDER\n\nMartin Shkreli was banned from Twitter for harassing Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca. Like a true stalker, he inserted his image into her photos and left ominous messages, all the while winking at his followers and insisting that he was just having some fun.— Dreamweasel (@Dreamweasel) 1652897378
So why is Shkreli out of prison? Well his sentence hasn’t been entirely completed.
While it is true that Shkreli got some time off for good behavior, he’s not walking free just yet. Instead, he’s being transferred to a halfway house in an undisclosed location in New York to complete the rest of his sentence.
If things go well for the “Pharma Bro” he’ll be out for good in September.
Shkreli’s lawyer has advised his client to make no statements during his transfer. However, despite being banned from Twitter, Shkreli still had access to Facebook.
On there he said:
“Getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison.”
Though if the deal for Elon Musk to buy Twitter ever goes through, maybe we do have to worry about Shkreli tweeting again.
Does he still have access to his Twitter account? \n\nWe may need to brace ourselves.— Paolo the Parrot \ud83e\udd9c (@Paolo the Parrot \ud83e\udd9c) 1652917833
Hot take: Elon is just a more successful Martin Shkreli.— Dr. Zaius (@Dr. Zaius) 1652891718
the black mirror episode we didn\u2019t ask for— KNIGHT (@KNIGHT) 1652906887
in hindsight, he was locked up from 2018-2022. missed the election, peak pandemic, and honestly some of the dumbest years to be alive. he was luckyhttps://twitter.com/nypost/status/1526982159717871618\u00a0\u2026— keith / i love the 21-22 grizzlies (@keith / i love the 21-22 grizzlies) 1652928472
Hopefully it will be something along the lines of, \u2018\u2026 would you like fries with that?\u2019— Loni Reeder (@Loni Reeder) 1652906972
Among the most infamous things done by Shkreli, the strangest was his purchase of a one-of-a-kind album by the Wu-Tang Clan, One Upon a Time in Shaolin. After his sentencing, a judged ordered Shkreli to part with $7.36 million as part of his sentence for his criminal conviction, part of which came from his stake in ownership of the album.
