Holmes, whose attempts to get a new trial were recently denied, is expected to appeal his conviction and sentence. After learning of his fate, Holmes cried while her friends and family surrounded her. She did not speak to reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing. In fact, an assistant to the hearing he told BuzzFeed News saw her and her partner flee the building through a side door to evade the scrum of cameras Waiting for her.
Her ex-boyfriend, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was president and COO of Theranos, was found guilty of 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy in July. Balwani is due to be sentenced next month.
Federal prosecutors had recommended that Holmes receive a 15-year prison sentence, six years more than the nine years suggested by the US Probation Office for similar criminal conduct, and shield the public from possible future crimes by Holmes. .
“Holmes speaks eloquently about his desire to innovate and improve healthcare. She has demonstrated a strong work ethic, charisma and ambition,” the government sentencing memorandum read. “But she is blinded by that ambition. Its reality distortion field has and will continue to put people in danger.”
In the filing, prosecutors noted that Holmes has yet to take responsibility for her crimes, continues to view herself as a victim, and is apparently working on new healthcare-related patents, as they argued a “sufficiently sufficient” sentence was necessary. punitive” to discourage her. She “to return to contemplate the possibility of committing fraud again.” They also raised concerns that Holmes could become a director of a public company in the future under her 2018 agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“This Court cannot be confident that Holmes has been deterred from further fraud,” prosecutors wrote.
And while Holmes was acquitted of charges related to Theranos patients, prosecutors urged the court to take into account her “lax attitude toward patient safety” and the fact that she forced patients “to incur a risk of unknowing death or injury” by using your company’s faulty blood testing services. Dávila ultimately opted not to use that as a factor in determining sentencing, agreeing with his attorneys that the evidence did not support such an improvement.
The government is also seeking more than $800,000 in restitution, despite acknowledging that it probably couldn’t afford it. According to the filing, a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation office determined that Holmes has “modest assets,” which are exceeded by $450,000 in loans for the SEC settlement and a liability for legal fees of more than $30. millions. Dávila indicated Friday that he would not count “the total investment as losses,” suggesting that $121.1 million was a more “reasonable” total loss for the investor victims he identified.
In Holmes’s response to the government memo, her lawyers called concerns about the eventual expiration of the SEC’s 10-year ban on her performance as a business executive “foolish.” “As a practical matter, there is no reasonable possibility that Ms. Holmes will serve as an officer of a public company in the future,” she wrote.
His lawyers criticized the government’s recommendation that he spend 15 years behind bars. The former CEO, whose spectacular rise and fall was chronicled in critical news, podcasts, documentaries and a hit Hulu series, is “punished every day,” she argued, and she will be “for the rest of her life.” ”.
The suggestion that Holmes’ interest in pursuing new patents justifies jail time was “extraordinary,” they said.
“Our Nation does not imprison people to prevent them from inventing and thinking,” the presentation said. “Millisecond. Holmes has not been convicted of having bad ideas; on the contrary, his ideas had substantial value, are being followed by others, and, as many of the letters have suggested, had the potential to make healthcare more accessible”.
