Martin Shkreli jailed over online threat
Bail revoked after pharmaceuticals executive offered $5,000 bounty for Hilary Clinton's hair
The former pharmaceutical company chief executive Martin Shkreli has been sent to jail after a judge ruled that a Facebook post asking his supporters to bring him samples of Hillary Clinton’s hair was cause to revoke his bail.
Shkreli “is best known for hiking up the price of a life-saving drug and for trolling his critics on social media”, says ABC, and “was found guilty last month on charges, unrelated to the price-fixing scandal, that he cheated investors in two failed hedge funds he ran”.
He is due to be sentenced on 16 January, and is facing up to 20 years in prison.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets,” he said in his now-deleted Facebook post. “So on HRC’s book tour, try to a grab a hair from her. I must confirm the sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton.”
Yesterday “Shkreli wrote to the court apologising for his behaviour, saying: ‘I am not a violent person’”, The Guardian reports.
His apology continued: “It never occurred to me that my awkward attempt at humour or satire would cause Mrs Clinton or the Secret Service any distress.”
However, US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said the post was “solicitation of an assault”, and warranted Shkreli’s jailing while he awaits his sentence.
Federal prosecutor Jacquelyn Kasulis argued that Shkreli’s “escalating pattern of violence against women is incredibly disturbing” and called him a “danger to the community”, CNBC reports.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of Christmas
Cartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku medium: December 22, 2024
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right now
Speed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?
Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?
Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday deals
Speed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from London
Speed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
By The Week Staff Published
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck again
Speed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
By The Week Staff Published
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…
Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
By The Week Staff Published
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacy
Speed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
By The Week Staff Published