Martin Shkreli Tells Judge He Was A 'Fool'

MANHATTAN, NY — "Pharma bro" Martin Shkreli has admitted that he was a "fool" in a new letter to a federal judge begging for leniency before his sentencing, where he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Shkreli, most famous for hiking up the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, was convicted of securities fraud last year and is scheduled to be sentenced in March. Shkreli's securities fraud conviction was unrelated to his price gouging.

In new court filings on Wednesday, Shkreli and his family members wrote letters to the court pleading for mercy when the notorious "pharma bro" is sentenced.

"It was wrong. I was a fool. I should have known better," Shkreli wrote in his letter.

Although Shkreli acknowledged missteps in the letters, he stops short of apologizing: "Despite the Jury's verdict, I maintain that I never intended to actually harm anyone," he wrote. "I accept the fact that I made serious mistakes, but I still believe that I am a good person with much potential."

Shkreli was previously out on bail but was jailed in a federal detention center in Brooklyn after offering $5,000 online to anyone who could bring him a lock of Hillary Clinton's hair.

Shkreli called being behind bars the "most frightening experience in my life" and bragged that he had "positive impact on many of the people I encounter here," according to the filings.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9.

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