Elizabeth Holmes sentencing: Theranos founder to face restitution hearing after being jailed for 11 years

Prosecutors are demanding that Holmes be given 15 years in prison

Jury finds Elizabeth Holmes guilty of fraud

Theranos founder Elizabeth Homes has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for defrauding investors of the blood-testing startup.

Holmes, who plans on appealing, will not have to report for her 135-month prison sentence until April 2023, the judge announced during the hearing.

“I am devastated by my failings,” a heavily-pregnant Holmes said in a tearful courtroom apology.

“I have felt deep pain for what people went through, because I failed them.”

Prosecutors had asked Judge Edward Davila to sentence Holmes to 15 years in prison and that she pay $800m in restitution for her role in the company’s fraudulent claims.

Holmes’ lawyers cast her as a scapegoat who overcame a toxic relationship with Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani to become a loving mother.

Holmes was convicted in January of three felony counts of wire fraud and one felony count of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Judge Davila said he would schedule a restitution hearing to determine how much Holmes must repay at a later date.

Key Points

• Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison
• Selfless visionary or scheming grifter? Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison
• Elizabeth Homes apologises
• Elizabeth Holmes asks for leniency for her Theranos crimes
• Elizabeth Holmes trial: Everything you need to know about the Theranos founder

[17 November 2022 17:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Sunny Balwani, Holmes’ ex-lover and Theranos partner, was also convicted of fraud and conspiracy

In July 2022, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former lover and partner of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, was also found guilty of fraud and conspiracy charges.

Megan Sheets reported on the verdict at the time.

[17 November 2022 18:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Judge declined to overturn Holmes’s guilty verdict

In September, a federal judge on tentatively declined to overturn the jury conviction of disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. That leaves the former Silicon Valley star a step closer to serving prison time.

Her sentencing is scheduled for Friday.

[17 November 2022 19:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Citing key witness regrets, Holmes sought new trial

Also in September, the disgraced Theranos CEO requested a new trial, asserting in a court filing that a key witness for the prosecution now regrets the role he played in her conviction for investor fraud and conspiracy related to her failed blood-testing startup.

[17 November 2022 20:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Profile: Elizabeth Holmes

Everything you need to know about the Theranos founder ahead of her sentencing.

[17 November 2022 21:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Will Silicon Valley learn anything from Holmes’s conviction?

The fraud conviction of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes could offer Silicon Valley s culture of hubris and hype some valuable lessons.

Will anyone in the tech industry actually take this moment to heart? Don’t count on it.

[17 November 2022 22:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Why was Elizabeth Holmes’s sentencing postponed?

Elizabeth Holmes’s sentencing was postponed in early October after claims that the prosecution allegedly engaged in misconduct.

Andrea Blanco and Abe Asher explain what happened.

[17 November 2022 23:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Holmes sought new trial claiming key witness regrets original testimony

In September, the Theranos founder asked for a new trial just weeks before her original sentencing date.

In a court filing, Ms Holmes stated that former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff, a key witness in her initial trial, visited her home on August 8 and told her partner that prosecutors had twisted his testimony.

Abe Asher reported for The Independent.

[18 November 2022 01:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

A bid for a new trial faltered early on

A key witness in the Elizabeth Holmes trial reiterated his initial testimony which had been questioned by defence attorneys, causing the Theranos founder’s bid for a new trial to falter.

Andrea Blanco reported on the development back in October.

[18 November 2022 03:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Holmes has asked for leniency for her crimes

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has cast herself as a Silicon Valley scapegoat who overcame an abusive relationship to become a loving mother in an effort to avoid a lengthy prison sentence for duping investors in her failed blood-testing company.

In an 82-page document filed last week, Holmes' lawyers tried to persuade US District Judge Edward Davila that sending Holmes to prison is unnecessary, partly because she has already been stigmatized by intense media coverage that has turned her into a “caricature to be mocked and vilified."

If Davila decides she send her to prison, Holmes' lawyers argued she should be sentenced to no more than 18 months — a fraction of the maximum of 20 years she is facing after being convicted on four felony counts of investor fraud and conspiracy earlier this year.

Read on:

[18 November 2022 05:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Prosecutors ask judge to impose 15-year prison sentence

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes to 15 years in prison, arguing she deserves a lengthy prison term because her massive scheme duped investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by falsely convincing them her company had developed a revolutionary blood testing device.

Calling the case “one of the most substantial white collar offenses Silicon Valley or any other District has seen,” prosecutors vehemently rejected defense attorneys’ characterization that Holmes had been unfairly victimized, in part by media coverage.