Disgraced 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli will be held responsible for a whopping $10.4 million (£7.4 million) in financial losses as he is sentenced for defrauding investors in March, a US federal judge has ruled - which means he's apparently looking at a pretty hefty prison sentence.
The 34-year-old - who was previously CEO of the biotechnology firm Retrophin and of his own firm Turing Pharmaceuticals - is most famous for controversially bumping the price of a cancer drug.
Turing obtained the manufacturing licence for the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim, raising its price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
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WATCH SHKRELI DISCUSS 5,000 PERCENT DRUG PRICE HIKE:
However, he was found guilty in August of unrelated fraud charges brought against him in December 2015, and has been in jail since September.
The ruling could mean that Shkreli faces yet more prison time, as the amount of financial loss plays a major role in federal sentencing guidelines - which Matsumoto does not have to follow, but must consider. And considering we're talking over $10m, things aren't looking too good.
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CNBC reports that due to the guidelines, he could be facing a decade or more behind bars.
However, he was found guilty in August of unrelated fraud charges brought against him in December 2015, and has been in jail since September.
The ruling could mean that Shkreli faces yet more prison time, as the amount of financial loss plays a major role in federal sentencing guidelines - which Matsumoto does not have to follow, but must consider. And considering we're talking over $10m, things aren't looking too good.
CNBC reports that due to the guidelines, he could be facing a decade or more behind bars.
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John Coffee, director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia University Law School, told CNBC: "Under the Sentencing Guidelines, the gain or loss from the offense is a principal factor in determining the sentence."
"Such a finding of loss could justify a 10-year sentence - or longer. But federal judges no longer have to follow the guidelines and they are only advisory."
He continued: "She has great discretion as to the sentence she imposes; she could recognize that he is a first offender and give him modest time. Or she could place more emphasis on the amount of the loss and his unrepentant attitude.
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"This is why most defense counsel instruct their client to appear modest and humble at their trial. Shkreli was the opposite and may pay a high price for his arrogance."
A spokesman for the prosecutors declined to comment, but according to Reuters, a lawyer for Shkreli, Benjamin Brafman, said in an email that he was 'disappointed by the ruling but still hopeful that the court will find it in her heart to impose a reasonably lenient sentence.'
Matthew Schwartz, who is a lawyer but not affiliated with the Shkreli case, also told CNBC: "In Shkreli's case, if the government is right that the losses are between $9.5 [million] to $25 million, then there will be a 20-level increase to the applicable sentencing guidelines; whereas if Shkreli is right, the loss amount would be zero."
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He added: "A 20-level difference in the sentencing guidelines could easily mean a difference of literally decades in prison.
"Of course, the guidelines are just that, and the court is not required to adhere to them."
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