A judge has ruled that 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli was responsible for nearly $10.5 million in losses in his securities fraud case.

The amount set on Monday by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto could result in a harsher punishment for Shkreli, 34, at his March 9 sentencing.

The judge rejected arguments by lawyers for the former pharmaceutical CEO that investors in his failed hedge funds didn't suffer actual losses because he paid them back with drug company stock.

A judge has ruled that 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli was responsible for nearly $10.5 million in losses in his securities fraud case

She found Shkreli should be penalized for the losses because he made risky transactions with investors' millions without their permission.

He was convicted at a trial last year of defrauding investors in two hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, he ran, and of securities fraud in connection with a drug company he founded, Retrophin.

Shkreli and his lawyers were hoping he would receive either no time in prison, or 16 months or less, CNBC reported.

His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement, 'Disappointed by the ruling but still hopeful that the court will find it in her heart to impose a reasonably lenient sentence on March 9th.'

Shkreli was convicted on charges he cheated investors in two failed hedge funds

His defense team has argued that Shkreli owes nothing, because the hedge fund investors actually ended up making a profit off drug company stock he gave them. It also says that unlike most securities fraud cases, Shkreli himself never made anything off the scheme.

'This case was never about money as far as Mr. Shkreli is concerned,' the defense said in court papers. The papers added: 'Simply put, Mr. Shkreli was not indicted because he stole anyone's money.'

He is currently being held in a Brooklyn, New York, federal jail awaiting sentencing. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Shkreli earned the nickname 'Pharma Bro' for boosting the price of a life-saving drug and for trolling his critics on social media.