NEW YORK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Martin Shkreli, former CEO of a U.S. drug company, was sentenced on Friday to seven years and a fine of 75,000 U.S. dollars for defrauding investors.
During his sentencing in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, Shkreli, 34, broke into tears and pleaded with U.S. District judge Kiyo Matsumoto for leniency.
"I look back and I'm embarrassed and ashamed," said Shkreli, who was found guilty by a jury in August of unrelated securities fraud charges brought against him in December 2015.
He also apologized to his investors.
"I lost your trust," he said. "There's no conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli. I took down Martin Shkreli with my disgraceful and shameful actions."
His sentence was less than half the minimum 15-year term asked for by prosecutors but much longer than the 12-18 months Shkreli's lawyers had sought.
Judge Matsumoto has already ordered Shkreli to forfeit nearly 7.4 million dollars to the federal government.
Shkreli, who became infamously known as "Pharma Bro" in 2015 for raising the price of the life-saving anti-parasite drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent, has been in jail since September last year.
