Theranos executive Sunny Balwani sentenced to 13 years in prison for defrauding patients and investors

Former COO of disgraced blood testing startup Theranos, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani has been sentenced to 155 months, or about 13 years, in prison and three years probation . After a three-month trial, Balwani was found guilty on 12 counts, ranging from defrauding patients and investors to conspiracy to commit fraud. Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of four of those counts and was sentenced to 11.25 years in prison last month.

Despite the disparate results of the two separate juries in two individual trials, Judge Ed Davila calculated that Holmes' and Balwani's sentences were exactly the same: 135 to 168 months, or 11.25 to 14 years. In both cases, prosecutor Jeff Schenk countered by asking for 15 years.

Balwani's lawyers tried to argue that he should get a more lenient sentence than Holmes because he was not CEO.

“He is not Mrs. Holmes. He did not seek fame and fortune,” said Balwani's attorney, Jeffrey Coopersmith.

Judge Davila even noted that the court saw another side to Balwani when told about his charitable donations, some of which took place after Theranos. Yet Balwani still received a harsh sentence of 13 years.

Holmes and Balwani were supposed to be tried together for fraud, but the former CEO has requested a separate trial, saying Balwani, who is 20 years his senior, emotionally and sexually abused her during their long relationship . Although the court did not rule on these allegations, the judge granted the request.

Throughout the trial, Balwani's lawyers attempted to argue that although he was an investor and executive at Theranos, he was not involved in key decision-making. The defense, however, did not plead for his innocence. In one piece of evidence, the jury received a text from Balwani to Holmes that read, "I'm responsible for everything at Theranos."

Balwani's trial included the same evidence that indicted Holmes. The prosecution focused on a key piece of evidence regarding Theranos' relationship with Walgreens. The biotech startup's faulty technology made its way to 41 Walgreens stores, but unbeknownst to the drugstore giant, most of the testing was done on third-party equipment. Theranos' own machines couldn't produce accurate test results, so many patients had blood drawn not with a finger prick but intravenously. So Walgreens basically spent $140 million on its partnership with Theranos, only to have the startup use the same old technology that was already in use.

Despite claims to the contrary, a Walgreens executive testified that he worked closely with Balwani on the deal. The prosecution also presented evidence of a text from Balwani to Holmes indicating that he deliberately did not tell Walgreens that they were using different machines.

For patients who have had the misfortune to have their blood tested with Theranos technology, some have had extremely inaccurate results that have significantly disrupted their lives. In one case, a mother with a history of miscarriage was wrongly told she would have another unsuccessful pregnancy. Another patient, Erin Tompkins, used Theranos for its low cost, was reported HIV-positive, then lived in limbo for three months until she could afford a second blood test. It turned out that she did not have HIV. Meanwhile, a patient named Mehrl Ellsworth has been falsely diagnosed with cancer.

Unlike the jury in Holmes's trial, the jury in Balwani's trial held him responsible for defrauding patients, not just investors.

Ahead of the former COO's sentencing hearing,