Martin Shkreli says prison life at the notorious “Club Fed” jail in Brooklyn isn’t all that bad.
The former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO and recently convicted felon, whose bail was revoked last month after prosecutors successfully argued that Shkreli’s Facebook post offering $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair represented a credible threat of violence. Shkreli argued that the post was satire, but the judge said that Shkreli’s history of harassing people on the internet cast doubt on his intentions.
Shkreli has described his prison experience in a letter to a friend that was shared with the New York Post.
The 34-year-old is spending his time mentoring fellow inmates, reading, playing chess–and learning to deal with sharing a small, cramped cell with a snoring roommate, pal Lisa Whisnant told The Post.
“Things are not THAT awful here,” inmate 87850-053 wrote to Whisnant, underlining “THAT” three times. “There are some bright sides. I am teaching these prisoners some new things and hopefully some ways to change their lives.”
Shkreli has been passing his time shooting hoops with his fellow inmates. Though he apparently complained that his bed is small and cramped and that his sleep quality has been “very low.”
“He seems to be handling it with typical Shkreli style,” she said. “He brings people together and shares his knowledge. Martin was meant to be a teacher. He loves it. He’s a natural.”
Though Shkreli did admit it’s not all fun and games.
“He says he has a small uncomfortable bed, and his sleep quality is very low,” shared Whisnant, who says she’s known the infamous internet troll for two years.
In the time that he’s been incarcerated, he’s heard many sad stories from inmates, some of whom have broken down crying in front of him, he said.
Shkreli’s also been subjected to “sorrowful stories,” he writes, such as a purported mobster crying in his room.
“There’s a lot of pain on these [prisoners] that people don’t see,” Whisnant said, regarding the alleged wiseguy’s whimpers.
“He should be okay,” she added of Shkreli when asked if the revelations of teary-eyed mobsters might endanger him.
Shkreli was convicted on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud the month before. Shkreli’s friend said she publicized their correspondence in order to let the world know her friend was surviving and thriving on the inside, and to try and convince people to send Shkreli books so that he can turn them over to his fellow inmates.
Among the books on Shkreli’s wish list are the business-themed self-help book “Who Moved My Cheese?” Self-help books are surprisingly popular in prison, according to Shkreli.
"He’s trying to help others. Martin is a good guy really,” she said, echoing jurors’ comments that the oft-reviled “Pharma bro” has a lesser-known “soft side.”
Shkreli has asked for more copies of “Who Moved My Cheese?” and “48 Laws of Power,” noting that self-help books are a commodity on the inside.
Shkreli will be sentenced in January, and could receive up to 20 years in federal prison, though he has repeatedly noted in interviews that the sentencing guidelines call for him to receives much less time.
via http://ift.tt/2xstyuR Tyler Durden