Martin Shkreli is now in jail following his comments on Hillary Clinton.
The former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO wrote incendiary content on the presidential candidate on Facebook, saying he would pay $5,000 to anyone who could grab a strand of Clinton’s hair.
Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said Shkreli, who is awaiting sentencing following his fraud conviction in August, has “demonstrated that he has posed a real danger.” Shkreli had been promoting a conspiracy on social media about the Clinton Foundation, and asking someone to get a strand of her hair.
Prosecutors said Shkreli displayed “an escalating pattern of threats and harassment.” The Secret Service had even launched an investigation on Shkreli that required “a significant expenditure of resources.”
His defense attorney tried to explain to the judge that Shkreli has a non-violent past, and what he did was very stupid, but not indicative of someone who’s violent. The judge wasn’t having it as he remanded Shkreli ahead of his sentencing.
Judge Matsumoto said Shkreli is “an ongoing risk to the community.” Until Wednesday, the former pharma CEO had been walking free on a $5 million bail, but the bail was now revoked and he was sent to jail.
“I used poor judgment but never intended to cause alarm or promote any act of violence whatsoever,” said Shkreli in a letter intended to save him from going to jail.
FB stock fell 1.3% Thursday.
