BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Martin Shkreli says the judge and jury in his fraud case got it wrong. With Shkreli locked up in a Pennsylvania federal prison, his lawyers tried to persuade an appeals court on Friday to overturn his conviction and give him a new trial.
Shkreli was convicted two years ago of lying to investors in his hedge funds and manipulating shares of Retrophin Inc., a biotech company he founded. He was sentenced to seven years and sent to a low-security prison camp.
Now Shkreli’s lawyers say the trial judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., gave incorrect legal instructions, leading to an inconsistent verdict in which jurors found him guilty of one count of conspiracy and two counts of securities fraud but cleared him of five other charges.
The “varied” and incorrect jury instructions were “highly misleading and prejudicial,” defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman said in court papers.
