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May 18 (UPI) -- Former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli was released from a Pennsylvania prison early Wednesday after serving part of a seven-year sentence for fraud, the federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed. Shkreli was released to a halfway house, his lawyer confirmed in a statement to UPI, and is expected to remain in federal custody until Sept. 14.
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"While in the halfway house I have encouraged Mr. Shkreli to make no further statement, nor will he or I have any additional comments at this time," Brafman said.
A jury convicted Shkreli in August 2017 on charges he ran a Ponzi scheme from 2009 to 2014 and bilked investors out of $11 million. He was found guilty on three out of the eight charges he faced after a week of deliberations, including securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.
Prosecutors said Shkreli illegally took stock from his biotechnology firm, Retrophin Inc., and used it to pay off debts from a failed hedge fund -- which is illegal. The Retrophin board of directors later sued Shkreli and he was ousted from the company for which he served as CEO.
Shkreli was accused of fraudulently reclassifying a $900,000 equity investment as a loan from his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, after it lost millions -- and made Retrophin pick up the tab.
Defense attorneys argued that Shkreli's investors were repaid.
Shkreli came to unrelated notoriety in 2015 after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, hiked the price of anti-parasite medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. The drug is often used to treat HIV patients and others with compromised immune systems.
