Former Theranos executive Sunny Balwani sentenced to 13 years in prison

Judge Edward Davila described Sunny Balwani and Elizabeth Holmes as ‘co-leaders’ in a scheme to defraud Theranos investors

Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for defrauding investors and endangering patients of the failed Silicon Valley blood-testing start-up Theranos.

Judge Edward Davila imposed a sentence of 155 months followed by three years probation after a four-hour hearing at the San Jose federal courthouse in California on Wednesday.

The 57-year-old played a central role in duping high-profile shareholders and had “significant autonomy” over Theranos’ lab, whose bogus results had misled vulnerable patients, prosecutors argued, according to NBC Bay Area.

Balwani’s sentencing came three weeks after his former girlfriend and Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes received a term of 11 years and three months in prison for her role in the scheme.

The pair were found guilty at separate trials of convincing investors to plough hundreds of millions of dollars into Theranos, while falsely claiming its Edison machines could conduct dozens of blood tests with just a few drops of blood.

Balwani’s defence attorneys sought to portray him as a victim of Holmes’ offending, NBC Bay Area reported.

He had invested and lost $5m in Theranos, and had gained such notoriety that he would never work in tech again, attorney Jeff Coopersmith said, according to Law 360.

“He’s unfortunately radioactive as a result of this whole affair,” Mr Coopersmith said.

US District Judge Edward Davila dismissed the suggestion that Balwani was a victim, saying he considered the former partners to be “co-leaders” in the fraud.

Elizabeth Holmes leaves court after her sentencing last month (EPA)

Judge Davila said that both Balwani and Holmes were aware that their patented blood test machines were not ready for commercial use, but continued to perpetuate the fraud anyway, NBC Bay Area noted.

“They misled investors, they misled patients.”

Judge Davila ordered Balwani to surrender to prison officials on 15 March. He will decide restitution at a later date.

Prosecutors described the relationship between the two Theranos executives as “complicated”.

“Sometimes she was leading, sometimes he was leading,” US assistant attorney Jeff Schenk said.

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, the former lover and business partner of Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, arrives at federal court in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (AP)

Balwani, the former Theranos COO, was convicted on all 12 counts of fraud in July at trial.

Prosecutors had sought a prison term of at least 15 years, while his lawyers had sought a term of just four to 10 months in prison in pre-sentencing court filings.

Among the investors who lost money in Theranos were Oracle founder Larry Ellison and media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Holmes was convicted of four counts of defrauding investors and acquitted on charges of defrauding Theranos patients. The jury in Holmes’ trial also deadlocked on three charges.

Judge Davila has made a recommendation for Holmes, who was heavily pregnant, to be sent to a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas — about an hour and a half outside Houston.