'Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli released from prison, sent to halfway house

Martin Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical investor convicted of securities fraud, has been released from prison after serving part of a seven-year sentence.

In a statement, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Shkreli had been transferred Wednesday from a federal correctional facility in Pennsylvania to a "community confinement" program which is the equivalent of a halfway house. It said his projected release date from federal custody is Sept. 14.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Shkreli, who became known as "pharma bro" for taking a rare, life-saving drug and raising its price by 5,000 percent, shared a selfie from inside a vehicle.

Shkreli, 39, was sentenced in 2018 after being found guilty of defrauding investors in two hedge funds and a former drug company, Retrophin. As part of his sentence, he is barred for life from running a public company; nor can he serve in any capacity in the pharmaceutical industry.

As part of his criminal conviction, Shkreli was ordered to pay $7.4 million, a portion of which was satisfied through the government sale of Shkreli's single-issue recording of the Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” for an estimated $2.4 million. Shkreli had purchased the album in 2015 for $2 million.

In 2019, Shkreli was reportedly placed in solitary confinement after he was discovered with a contraband cell phone he was accused of using to conduct business, including firing the CEO who took over his other drug company, formerly known as Turing Pharmaceuticals.

In April, Shkreli's law firm asked to withdraw from representing him, saying the drug company, now called Phoenixus AG, had stopped paying its legal bills. The law firm, Duane Morris, said Shkreli “has no assets” with which to continue to pay fees.

Shkreli remains on probation. Attempts to reach a representative for Shkreli were not successful.