Crime

Bail stumper: Martin Shkreli gets permission to travel outside of NY for speaking gigs

Martin Shkreli
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He's been suspended by Twitter, so now Martin Shkreli is taking his trollish shtick on the road.

Shkreli, the notorious pharmaceutical executive and accused securities fraudster, received permission Wednesday from a federal judge to travel outside of New York while free on $5 million bail.

The travel is for "speaking engagements" — at least one at a prominent college — and a "social engagement" in Washington, D.C., at the time of the presidential inauguration, court documents show.

Shkreli's itinerary was approved three days after Twitter suspended his account for harassing a female journalist, whom he had offered to take as his date to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Twitter also suspended his access to Periscope, a live video-streaming service that Shkreli often used to interact with admirers.

Before he was suspended, Shkreli tweeted: "Doing a university tour. If you want me to speak: 1. Make sure your college is 100% okay with it."

"I also can DJ," tweeted Shkreli.

The speaking events Shkreli is traveling to include appearances at the University of California, Davis, as well as in Princeton, New Jersey, according to court records.

At UC Davis, Shkreli will appear Friday night with another social-media provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos, a British journalist for Brietbart who was banned by Twitter last year in connection with online racial abuse of an actress, Leslie Jones.

The Davis event is organized and sponsored by the Davis College Republicans, a university spokesman said.

A Princeton University spokesman has not yet responded for a request for comment on whether Shkreli will appear there as well, next month.

Shkreli is currently free on bond on charges of defrauding the pharmaceutical company he previously headed, Retrophin, for the alleged purpose of repaying investors he had scammed while operating hedge funds earlier. Shkreli has denied those allegations.

In a letter for U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn federal court filed Wednesday, Shkreli's lawyer noted that Shkreli's bail conditions limited his travel to the confines of New York City, several counties north of the city, and Long Island.

Marc Agnifilo, the lawyer, asked the judge for permission for Shkreli to travel to California for a speaking engagement at UC Davis on Friday and return two days later. He also asked that Shkreli be allowed to travel to Washington next Tuesday, returning to New York on Jan. 21, a day after the inauguration.

Shkreli additionally wanted to go to Princeton on Feb. 11, returning the following day.

The lawyer's letter noted that federal prosecutors did not object to the request. Mastumoto granted Shkreli permission shortly after the letter was sent.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn declined to comment to CNBC.

Shkreli's lawyer has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Shkreli first gained widespread notoriety in the summer of 2015, when it was revealed his drug company Turing Pharmaceuticals had raised the price of an old drug, Daraprim, by more than 5,000 percent, from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill.

Dararprim is used to treat a parasitic condition that is sometimes found in pregnant women, babies, and people infected with HIV.