Prosecutors want Shkreli’s bail revoked over Clinton posting

Martin Shkreli testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 2016 (Photo By House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform – https://www.flickr.com/photos/oversight/25044779546/in/photostream/, Public Domain)

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors on Thursday filed a court motion asking a judge to revoke Martin Shkreli’s bail and throw him in jail because of recent threats the so-called “Pharma Bro” allegedly made against Hillary Clinton.

“Since his conviction on August 4, 2017, Shkreli has engaged in an escalating pattern of threats and harassment that warrant his detention pending sentencing,” prosecutors wrote in their motion.

“Most recently, Shkreli threatened former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by publicly offering $5,000 to anyone who would ‘grab’ some of her hair on the defendant’s behalf during her upcoming book tour” prosecutors wrote.

The threat required “significant expenditure of resources by the U.S. Secret Service,” prosecutors said, adding that there was risk that one of Shkreli’s many social media followers would take his statements seriously.

Prosecutors also cited several other Twitter and social media postings by Shkreli that they said were harassing to women.

“However inappropriate some of Mr. Shkreli’s postings may have been, we do not believe that he intended harm and do not believe that he poses a danger to the community,” Shkreli’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement.

The former pharmaceutical CEO best known for hiking up the price of a life-saving drug and for trolling his critics on social media has been out on bail since a jury found him guilty of deceiving investors in two failed hedge funds he ran. The defence had argued that investors got their original investments back and even made hefty profits.

The 34-year-old defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, though the term could be much lower under sentencing guidelines.