‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli Seeks Prison Release to Work on COVID-19 Treatment

Lawyers for so-called "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli, convicted in 2017 of securities fraud, filed papers in federal court in Brooklyn Wednesday seeking his compassionate release from prison.

The lawyers argued in the court papers that because of the coronavirus pandemic “Mr. Shkreli faces possible, even likely, infection and potential death in prison due to his underlying severe allergies.”

Currently serving a seven-year sentence at a federal prison facility in Allenwood, PA, Shkreli “seeks permission to work from home ... to perform research on a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment,” the court papers say.

Shkreli’s lawyers described him as a “first time offender of a non-violent offense.”

Martin Shrkeli, the smirking “Pharma Bro” vilified for jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug, was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds. Meg Tirrell reports.

He is one of a number of prominent felons to seek early release from prison on the grounds their health would put them at greater risk for catching coronavirus.

Among them, a federal judge let lawyer and Trump foe Michael Avenatti temporarily serve home confinement, while a decision is pending in the case of Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland.