Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to more than 11 years for fraud at Theranos

Mrs. Holmes was found guilty in January of four counts of fraud for deceiving investors about her Theranos blood testing startup.

SAN JOSE, CA — Elizabeth Holmes, founder of failed blood-testing startup Theranos, was sentenced Friday to more than 11 years in prison for defrauding investors over her company's technology and business dealings.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The sentence capped a years-long saga that captivated audiences and sparked debates about Silicon Valley's culture of hype and hype. Ms Holmes, who raised $945 million for Theranos and promised the start-up would revolutionize healthcare with tests requiring just a few drops of blood, was found guilty in January of four counts of fraud for deceiving investors with these allegations, which have turned out not to be true.

Judge Edward J. Davila of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California sentenced Ms. Holmes to 135 months in prison, which is slightly over 11 years, followed by three years of probation. Ms Holmes, 38, who plans to appeal, is due in police custody on April 27, 2023.

In the courtroom on Friday, Ms Holmes - who appeared with a large group of friends and family, including her parents and partner, Billy Evans, cried as she read a statement to the judge.

"I am devastated by my failures," she said. "I felt deep pain for what people went through because I let them down."

Ms. Holmes, who has a one-year-old son and is pregnant with her second child, apologized to Theranos investors, patients and employees. She said she had tried to achieve his dream too quickly and doing too many things at once. It ended with a quote from the poet Rumi and a promise to do good in the world in the future.

Although directives s federal wire fraud conviction of the magnitude that Ms. Holmes was found guilty of having recommended a maximum of 20 years in prison, a probation officer assigned to the case suggested nine years. His lawyers had asked for just 18 months of house arrest, while prosecutors were seeking 15 years and $804 million in restitution for 29 investors.

Prosecutors had urged Judge Davila to consider the message his case would send to the world. In court filings, they wrote that a lengthy sentence for Ms Holmes was important to 'deter future startup fraud schemes' and 'restore the confidence investors need to have when funding innovators'.

Jeffrey Cohen, associate professor at Boston College Law School and former federal prosecutor, said it was somewhat surprising that a sentence would go beyond the recommendation of a probation report, but the high profile nature of Ms. Holmes' case had made it a symbol. The conviction also showed that the courts take fraud seriously, he added.

"We rarely see these kinds of lawsuits," he added. he declared.

Mrs. Holmes' case has taken on an almost mythical status among white-collar crimes. Few start-up founders have reached the level of notoriety that she did, appearing on magazine covers, dining at the White House and reaching a paper net worth of $4.5 billion. Since the Theranos fraud came to light in 2015, Ms. Holmes' story has been told in podcasts, TV shows, books and documentaries.

ImageMs. Holmes with his parents and Mr Evans before his sentencing on Friday. Theranos closed in 2018.Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York Times