In a surprise twist, a former lawyer for one of “pharma felon” Martin Shkreli’s drug companies was found guilty Wednesday of helping his ex-boss defraud investors out of $11 million – while the slippery loudmouth was acquitted of the same charge earlier this year.
Evan Greebel, who now faces up to 20 years in prison, stormed out of the courtroom after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud for his role in the scheme.
Prosecutors accused Shkreli of pocketing some $11 million from various hedge fund investors to back his drug company, Retrophin Inc. While Shkreli was found guilty in August of defrauding the investors, the 34-year-old dodged charges claiming he’d orchestrated a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme to bolster the business.
Greebel, 44, helped the now-jailed exec swindle financial backers after Shkreli lost their money in dicey trades by drawing up bogus settlement contracts, prosecutors argued.
The lawyer, who worked as a corporate attorney at another firm yet advised Retrophin and Shkreli, remained expressionless as the jury read its verdict, while his wife burst into sobs in the gallery.
No sentencing date has been set for Greebel, who will remain out on $1 million bond and faces disbarment following the 11-week trial.
Defense attorney Reed Brodsky said he was “shocked” by the verdict, and blamed Shkreli’s infamy in part for the jury’s decision.
“We feel that Martin Shkreli himself is so toxic, it’s hard in today’s environment to get some justice where there is an association with someone so toxic,” Brodsky said, adding the team will appeal.
Shkreli, who is biding his time at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, faces up to 20 years behind bars when sentenced in February.
He was tossed in jail after putting out an allegedly mock $5,000 bounty on a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair in September.
“By helping Retrophin CEO Martin Shkreli steal millions of dollars and cover up Shkreli’s fraud, the defendant Evan Greebel betrayed the trust placed in him by Retrophin’s board of directors to represent the company’s best interests,” Acting United States Attorney Bridget Rohde said in a statement.
