Martin Shkreli is in prison serving a seven-year term for securities fraud, but if you were under the impression that would mean the end of "pharma bro" stories for a while, the Wall Street Journal has some news for you: Shkreli is still running the show at drug company Phoenixus AG with help from an illegal phone and a few inmate bodyguards, according to the newspaper. In fact, the story says Shkreli fired the man he personally chose as his successor in a phone call earlier this year. A company board member says it's "widely known" that Shkreli has a prison phone, which is, not surprisingly, illegal. The FBI declined to comment, but sources tell the Journal that the agency is investigating.
A white-collar prison consultant tells Vice that if Shkreli is indeed using an illegal phone, he could wind up in serious trouble—if not indicted, then perhaps moved to solitary confinement or to a higher-security prison. The Journal story, meanwhile, is rich in amazing details about the 35-year-old's life in a 12-person prison cell in Fort Dix, N.J. He reportedly has all the time in the world to read about drug research on his phone; related to that, he plans to be richer than ever when he walks out of prison in 2023; he has protectors named "D Block" and "Krispy" to keep the riffraff away; and, finally, he can now do 15 pushups in a row. Click to read the full story by Rob Copeland and Bradley Hope. (More Martin Shkreli stories.)