(Bloomberg) — Martin Shkreli, once dubbed "the mosthated man in America," is now a convicted felon.

Shkreli, notorious for raising the price of the potentiallylife-saving drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent, was found guilty Fridayof defrauding investors in two hedge funds.

He is now almost certain to go to prison. Shkreli faces as longas 20 years behind bars, although he’s likely to serve much less.U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto allowed him to return home andwished Shkreli well after the verdict was read. She said she wouldsee him soon, though she hasn’t set a date for sentencing.

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“This was a witch hunt of epic proportions,” a smiling Shkreli, flanked by his lawyers and his father,told reporters outside the Brooklyn, New York, courthouse followingthe verdict. “Maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at theend of the day we’ve been acquitted of the most important chargesin this case.”

Shkreli was convicted of three of eight charges, includingsecurities fraud. He was acquitted of fraud charges related toallegations that he looted Retrophin to pay off his hedge-fundinvestors. Sentencing guidelines take into consideration the sizeof losses, so the Retrophin allegations carried the potential forthe most severe penalty.

For more on why Shkreli stood trial, click here

In the end, it was Shkreli’s lies to his investors that cost himhis freedom, not his 2015 decision to jack up the price of theanti-parasitic drug. Prosecutors said Shkreli, 34, misled clientsabout the performance of his failing hedge funds, secretly usedtheir money to start Retrophin, and then took $11 million from thedrug-development company to repay them. The jury didn’t buy thegovernment’s claims about Retrophin.

"The law is very clear that ‘intent to harm’ is not a requiredelement to prove ‘intent to defraud,”’ said Kevin Sadler, alawyer involved in the case of convicted Ponzi schemer R. AllenStanford. “How much in investor losses Shkreli actually caused willbe relevant in the sentencing phase of his case. But there is nosuch thing as a ‘no harm, no foul’ defense to securities fraud."

Shkreli delighted

Shkreli said he was "delighted in many ways" with the verdict,especially with the fact that he was acquitted of the charge thathe looted Retrophin, which he called the "government’s attempt totheorize that I robbed Peter to pay Paul."

"My investors made three to five times their money without anyaid of any settlement agreements," he said. "Some made 10 timesmore than that on their original investment after they did receivesettlements. I’m delighted the jury did their job and saw the factsas they were."

The verdict came on the fifth day of deliberations after a trialthat lasted more than a month and sometimes resembled a circus.Shkreli’s notoriety for boosting the price of Daraprim made juryselection a time-consuming process as dozens of prospective jurorsexpressed contempt for him. One called him a “snake” and anothersaid he was “the face of corporate greed.” Neither was selected forthe panel.

Hailed as “Pharma Bro” by his online supporters, Shkreli has wona following for sharing much of his life on the Internet,broadcasting live from his Manhattan apartment. In the eveningsafter a long day in court, he could be seen chatting with hisfollowers, petting his cat, combing his hair and playing chess.While he was kicked off Twitter for harassing a female journalist,he’s been on Facebook during the trial to rail against prosecutors.And immediately after the verdict he took to YouTube to discuss theresult with his followers.

Stop talking

A courthouse tirade got Shkreli reprimanded by the judge. Aftertelling reporters during a lunch break that the prosecutors inBrooklyn were the “junior varsity," Matsumoto ordered him to stoptalking about the case in and around the building.

Shkreli’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said he would attempt toconvince the judge not to impose prison time in the case. Brafmansaid his client "has some work to do" to undo the damage from thecriticism of his decision to raise the price of Daraprim.

"Nobody who ever needed Daraprim has ever been deprived ofDaraprim because they could not pay for it," Brafman said. "Thereis an image issue that Martin and I are going to be discussing inthe next several days. Martin is a brilliant young man butsometimes people skills don’t translate well.”

Dozen witnesses

Prosecutors presented more than a dozen witnesses, includinginvestors who said they had trouble recovering their money fromShkreli and former employees who recounted questionabletransactions. A former compliance officer said he got so tired ofhis boss’s antics that he quit and complained to the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission.

The government painted Shkreli as a conman and habitual liar.They said his deceit involved not only the performance of his fundsand how he used investor money, but his educational background andprior investing experience. Jurors were shown what prosecutors saidwere sham consulting agreements that Shkreli drafted as part of oneof his many schemes to pay back some investors.

Prosecutors said Shkreli boasted to potential hedge fund clientsthat he was managing as much as $100 million when the net value ofone of his funds fell to minus 33 cents, and never held more than$3 million.

"The work of our office and the FBI on this and other casesdemonstrates our resolve to protect the investing public and ourmarkets from fraud and abuse," Bridget M. Rohde, the acting U.S.attorney for Brooklyn. "Rest assured we will continue toinvestigate and prosecute those who engage in schemes to defraudsuch as this one."

Eccentric genius

Shkreli chose not to testify and his lawyers called nowitnesses. His attorneys sought to prove their case throughcross-examination of government witnesses, claiming that Shkreliwas an eccentric genius whose investors ultimately made millions ofdollars -- even if it took them years to recover their money.

Robert C. Hockett, a professor at Cornell Law School, said theverdict isn’t very surprising given the way Shkreli has acted sincethe spotlight first shone on him.

"Ever since he first came to public attention he has exhibitedsuch contempt for all norms of behavior, and has done this sounrelentingly, that it would almost have been surprising had heproved law-abiding," Hockett said.

As a teenager living in Brooklyn, Shkreli was an intern at ahedge fund operated by Jim Cramer before working as an analyst atseveral funds and then starting his own, Elea Capital Management,in 2005 at the age of 23. After Elea collapsed due to bad trades,Shkreli began two other funds, MSMB Capital Management and MSMBHealthcare, and then co-founded Retrophin in 2011.

Shkreli was ousted by Retrophin in 2014 and arrested in December2015. At another company he founded, Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC,Shkreli raised the price of Daraprim. Criticized harshly, hedefended his decision and said he’d do it again.

The case is U.S. v. Shkreli, 15-cr-00637, U.S. District Court,Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).