There are no bars or security towers at the prison, or locks on ‘rooms’, and inmates can enjoy sports and music facilities

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical industry entrepreneur vilified for hiking up the price of a life-saving drug has been moved to a low-security federal prison in New Jersey where inmates are not locked behind bars and can enjoy sports and music facilities.

Shkreli, 35, was transferred on Tuesday from a bleak federal facility in New York to the federal correctional institution at Fort Dix, about 40 miles north-east of Philadelphia.

The man nicknamed “Pharma Bro” for his audacity over drug pricing and puerile public displays of arrogance was sentenced last month to seven years in prison for securities fraud. He was also fined $75,000.

According to the prison’s handbook, there are no bars or security towers at the prison, or locks on inmate “rooms” (not cells). Inmates must demonstrate a high degree of responsibility, and “the expectations are that each inmate will comply”.

Amenities at the prison complex include racquetball and volleyball courts, larger areas for team sports, pool tables, a music room and facilities for arts and crafts.

It’s not quite the “Club Fed” minimum-security type of prison camp where Shkreli boasted last year he would end up killing time by playing video games.

The federal authorities reported there is no access to the internet for inmates at Fort Dix.

Shkreli was found guilty at his fraud trial in New York last August of lying to investors in two failed hedge funds and cheating them out of millions of dollars between 2009 and 2014.

The case was unrelated to the 2015 scandal he stirred up when he raised the price of a drug used to treat Aids, malaria and cancer patients, Daraprim, by more than 5,000%.

Brooklyn federal judge Kiyo Matsumoto ordered Shkreli to forfeit more than $7.3m in a brokerage account and personal assets that included a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album that he boasted of buying for $2m. Before sentencing, Shkreli was initially free on bail but was jailed last September after a social media prank where he offered $5,000 for anyone able to snatch a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair.