Federal prosecutors have sentenced Elizabeth Holmes, Former Theranos CEO, to 11.25 years in prison. Previously, she was found guilty of four fraud-related charges.
Holmes, formerly the Theranos CEO, will be spending time in jail.
The 38-year-old, whose physical-fitness business was featured in a Hulu series named The Dropout, about the entrepreneur’s downfall, was penalized for more than 11 years behind bars and 3 years of overseeing released after being arrested on four fraud-related charges.
A judgment on 18 Nov sentenced her to submit to the system on 27 Apr the following year.
The penalizing was primarily scheduled for October but was rescheduled after Holmes’ legitimate team said a witness who testified in the four months trial had a friend visit his home to show remorse.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor indicted Holmes of deceiving investors, doctors, and patients with her business idea, which was supposed to have developed a blood-testing method that efficiently obtained quick results using a small amount of blood.
A California panel of judges found Elizabeth remorseful of one count of the plot to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud on 3 Jan.
However, judges determined that she was not remorseful of a second count of the plot to commit wire fraud and reached no verdict on three more counts. She was also found not guilty on the final three counts of the case.
A Stanford University dropout who founded Theranos in 2003 became a “tech visionary” in Silicon Valley after his company received backing from wealthy investors such as venture capitalist Tim Draper and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
However, in 2015, a Wall Street Journal report said that Theranos’ technology was based on loopholes and that the third-party test machines used to analyze the results were often faulty. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was charged with falsifying evidence about the circumstances for personal profit the following year.
Once addressed as the “next Steve Jobs,” she was almost on the verge of becoming the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
The scandal inspired a few projects focusing on Theranos’s fall from grace, including John Carreyrou’s novel “Bad Blood” and the documentary “The Inventor.”
Before Judge Edward Davila issued the sentence on Friday, Holmes addressed the court in which she tearfully asked for forgiveness from investors and patients.
“I am devastated by my failings,” and “I have felt deep pain for what people went through as I have failed them,” she said.
“I regret my failings with every cell of my body,” she continued.
The judge referred to Holmes as a “brilliant” entrepreneur and told her: “Failure is normal. But Failure by fraud is not OK.”
On Friday, the court ruled that she had caused $120 million in losses to investors, including Rupert Murdock and the family that Walmart owns. The amount she will be required to pay will be determined later.
Former Theranos employees, over 130 friends, and family members wrote to the judge to ask for leniency. The group noted that Holmes is a pregnant parent. She had a child in July 2021 and is now expecting her second child. It is not known when she goes into labor.
Her lawyers are fighting to keep her out of jail until after the baby is born.
In her sentencing memo to the court, Billy Evans’s partner stated his fear of “a future in which my son grows up with a relationship with his mother on the other side of the glass, armed by guards.”
Eileen Lepera lost her savings after investing in Theranos and expressed happiness with the court’s verdict.
“I think it’s fair, considering all the facts of the case,” Ms. Lepera said. “She [Holmes] knew it was a fraud and risked people’s lives.”
