'Pharma Bro' Lawyer Gets 18 Months for Aiding Scheme

By William Vogeler, Esq. on August 20, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Jodi Greebel collapsed in court as a judge sentenced her husband -- a former attorney for Martin Shkreli -- to 18 months in prison.

It was an awful day for lawyer Evan Greebel and his family, and the beginning of the end to a painful legal process. A jury labored to convict the former Kaye Scholer attorney, and even the judge was emotional at sentencing.

But for the victims, it wasn't about the jail time. It was about the $10 million that Greebel must pay for helping "Pharma Bro" Shkreli defraud investors.

$10 Million Restitution

Greebel, outside counsel to a pharmaceutical company, was found guilty of charges that he conspired to commit wire and securities fraud. In the federal courtroom, jurors concluded that Greebel helped Shkreli steal millions of dollars from the company and cover up the fraud.

Bridget Rohde, acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the verdict also sent a message to lawyers that they can be held accountable for using their "legal expertise to facilitate the commission of crime."

Shkreli, who founded Retrophin in 2011, was convicted of fraud in a separate trial last August. He was accused of lying to investors and paying them back with stolen company funds and stock.

Greebel was charged with assisting in the fraud through a series of settlement and sham consulting agreements, the New York Times reported. Greebel faced up to 20 years in prison for his part in the scheme.

"Not Feckless"

At sentencing, Judge Kiyo Matsumoto also rejected Greebel's last pleas for acquittal or a new trial. She said Greebel knew what he was doing.

"He is not feckless; he is not naïve; he is not inexperienced," she said. "And he was not led astray by a young, brash CEO."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alixandra Smith urged the court for a stiff sentence. She said a soft sentence would send the wrong message.

"The legal community is watching this case very closely, and leniency sends the wrong message," she said.

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