Martin Shkreli, Owner of Rare Wu-Tang Album, Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

Martin Shkreli, the snarky “Pharma Bro” who was condemned for hiking up the cost of AIDS drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent, was sentenced on Friday (March 9) to seven years in prison for securities fraud, reports CBS News. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto handed down the sentence after a jury found him guilty last August of defrauding investors in his hedge funds.

Shkreli, who is notorious for his trolling on social media, delivered a tearful apology to the judge and the investors he defrauded.

“I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me,” he told Judge Matsumoto. “I took down Martin Shkreli.”

“I am terribly sorry I lost your trust,” he added. “You deserve far better.”

In handing down her sentence, Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said she believed Shkreli to be genuinely remorseful for his crimes, but she worried that a minimal sentence might not deter him in future.

Prosecutors was initially seeking a prison sentence of 15 years, while Shkreli’s attorneys requested that he serve a 12-to-18 months sentence for his crimes.

Earlier this week, Shkreli was ordered to hand over $7.4 million in a brokerage account and personal assets including the rare Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. The judge also hit Shkreli with a $75,000 fine apart from the $7.4 million forfeiture.

Last September, Shkreli put the Wu-Tang Clan album up for sale on eBay and someone purchased the project for over $1 million. Shkreli originally paid $2 million for it.

Shkreli also purportedly owns Lil Wayne’s oft-delayed album, Tha Carter V. Weezy’s lawyers and Universal Music have reportedly sent cease-and-desist letters to Shkreli after he leaked a couple of tracks from the project, including the Kendrick Lamar-featured “Mona Lisa.”

As for the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, no one knows where the project will end up.

“I hope the Feds are gonna give us back our record,” Wu-Tang member U-God told TMZ.

“That’d be kinda cool if I could get my record back so it can generate some sales for my family. Or, they can keep it in the museum and we can share the proceeds or something,” he continued.

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