Twitter Reacts As Martin Shkreli Gets Jailed For Soliciting Hillary Clinton's Hair

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, who was convicted of securities fraud in August, to be jailed for a Facebook post in which he offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair, reports said. The news prompted reactions from Twitter users who were divided in their opinion about the sentencing.

The 34-year-old, often known as "pharma bro," was out on $5 million bail while he awaited sentencing in the fraud case. The latest order came after he wrote two Facebook posts offering money to anyone who could “grab a hair" from the former first lady during her book tour. Clinton released her memoir "What Happened," which gives an account of her personal life and the presidential campaign, this week.

“On HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her,” the post said, referring to Clinton.“Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton.”

According to the Washington Post, prosecutors complained these antics posed a danger to the community and alleged Shkreli harassed women online while awaiting sentencing.

Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said the recent Facebook post could “cause a reasonable person to have concern" and added even if Shkreli was not being violent himself, there was no way of knowing what those who followed him online were capable of.

The sentencing comes after Shkreli, who faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for securities fraud, apologized in writing on Tuesday. "I understand now that some may have read my comments about Mrs. Clinton as threatening when that was never my intention when making those comments.I used poor judgment but never intended to cause alarm or promote any act of violence whatsoever," he wrote, adding that he had quickly amended his post to make clear he had just been joking and later took it down altogether. He pleaded with the judge on Wednesday to offer him another chance.

Many on Twitter were quick to comment about the sentencing saying he deserved the jail time.

However, some thought the jail sentence for too harsh for just a Facebook post and said other people had gotten away after acts that were much worse.

Judge Matsumoto in her comments after the order said: “The fact that he continues to remain unaware of the inappropriateness of his actions or words demonstrate to me he may well be an ongoing danger or risk to the community. He should be apologizing to the government and Secretary Clinton."

Matsumoto added the comments by Shkreli were not protected under the First Amendment speech. “He is soliciting an assault on another person in exchange for $5,000. I can’t say with any certainty that the threats have not been taken seriously by anybody.”

The prosecutors also noted it was not the first time that Shkreli had made controversial posts on social media, New York Times reported. Just before his conviction, Shkreli had made a sexual threat toward a female journalist on Twitter.

The ex-pharma CEO is infamous for hiked the price of an AIDS drug from $13.50 to $750, by 5000 percent a pill when he ran Turing Pharmaceuticals and was convicted in August on three accounts related to hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare. He was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, on Wednesday where is expected to stay until his sentencing on Jan. 16.