Smirking pop culture butt pimple Martin Shkreli may end up testing the toughness of his supremely smackable face in a federal penitentiary.
He was convicted today in a New York court of three counts of securities fraud and reportedly could face fines and up to 20 years behind bars.
Shkreli first gained public notice as “big pharma’s biggest asshole” in 2015. He founded Turing Pharmaceuticals and one of his first acts was to raise the price of a previously inexpensive and vital AIDS drug by 5,000 percent.
Shkreli’s time as a big shot was relatively brief. Just months after he became outrage-famous, he was arrested on the charges he was convicted of today.
In the two years that followed, Shkreli achieved a bizarre kind of celebrity even as he was facing trial. He held an unheard Wu-Tang Clan album hostage and regularly melted down on social media.
It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as it sounds.
Following the jury’s verdict—which was delivered after five days’ worth of deliberation—Shkreli reportedly said he and his legal team were “delighted in many ways.” The Washington Post reported that he also was happy to be found not guilty of five charges against him.
Shkreli said the whole thing “was a witch hunt of epic proportions,” and the prosecutors and jury “may have found some broomsticks,” whatever that means.
Let’s hope the Wu-Tang Clan throws one hell of a party in celebration.