A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered Martin Shkreli to be jailed while he awaits sentencing for securities fraud, citing a Facebook post in which the former drug company executive nicknamed the “Pharma Bro” offered a $5,000 reward for a strand of Hillary Clinton‘s hair.
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn said the Sept. 4 post, which prompted a call from the U.S. Secret Service, showed Shkreli posed a danger to the public that warranted revoking his $5 million bail. U.S. prosecutors had moved to jail Shkreli last Thursday. Shkreli, who earned the nickname “Pharma Bro” for exploits that included increasing to the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, apologized for the post in a letter to Matsumoto on Tuesday, calling it an “awkward attempt at humor or satire.”
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn said the Sept. 4 post, which prompted a call from the U.S. Secret Service, showed Shkreli posed a danger to the public that warranted revoking his $5 million bail. U.S. prosecutors had moved to jail Shkreli last Thursday. Shkreli, who earned the nickname “Pharma Bro” for exploits that included increasing to the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, apologized for the post in a letter to Matsumoto on Tuesday, calling it an “awkward attempt at humor or satire.”
READ MORE: ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli apologizes for Facebook bounty on Hillary Clinton’s hair
Shkreli said in the post, since deleted, that he needed the hair to “confirm the sequences I have,” an apparent reference to genetic testing.
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