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Partner Of 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli Sentenced To 18 Months For Wire Fraud
Evan Greebel, the former outside counsel to the Martin Shrekli co-founded company Retrophin, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after being found guilty for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
The business partner of widely reviled "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to jail after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Evan Greebel was convicted of helping Shkreli dupe investors in December 2018 and received his sentence on August 24.
He will serve 18 months in prison and will be forced to pay $10.5 million in restitution, according to the New York Daily News. Greebel will also be forced to forfeit $116,000.
Jurors found that Greebel, a former outside counsel to the Shrekli co-founded company Retrophin, colluded with the notorious CEO in using the company's assets to pay off Shkreli's personal debts through fraudulent settlements and consulting agreements.
Shkreli had been found guilty of securities fraud in August of 2017 in a separate trial and was sentenced to seven years in a federal prison.
Greebel potentially faced 20 years in prison for his crimes. He discussed his regrets during the trial.
“I will regret every day of my life the day I met Martin Shkreli,” Greebel said in Brooklyn Federal Court, according to the New York Daily News. "Never in my life did I think that I’d be standing in a federal courtroom at my own criminal sentencing. It’s the deepest shame I’ve ever experienced in my life."
In court proceedings, Greebel's lawyers had described him as a "mensch, and a very solid one," according to Bloomberg. Despite pleas for leniency, prosecutors pushed for harsh sentencing.
“There should be no separate justice system for attorneys,” said Alexandra Smith, an assistant U.S. attorney, according to the New York Daily News. “Lawyers should understand that if they’re doing the wrong thing, they should be punished.”
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, who also presided over the Shkreli court case, rebuked Greebel as well.
“Mr. Greebel is highly intelligent,” Matsumoto said. “He had a top-rate legal education, and he had substantial experience. He is not feckless, He is not naïve, and he is not inexperienced. He was not led astray by a young, brash CEO.”
Shkreli had origianlly invoked public ire after gouging the price of a life-saving HIV medication in 2015. His eccentric behavior, which included bragadocious live-streaming sessions and social media attacks of prominent critics, garnered him the nickname "The Most Hated Man in America."
[Photo: Martin Shkreli by Getty Images]
