Martin Shkreli is trying to use the coronavirus pandemic to get out of prison

Martin Shkreli, currently serving a seven-year sentence for securities fraud, has a pitch to authorities: Let me out of prison and I’ll help stop the novel coronavirus.

The disgraced biotech entrepreneur is asking for a “brief” three-month furlough from his federal penitentiary in Allenwood, Penn., to spend time researching potential treatments for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.