Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced Friday to 11 years and three months in prison, with an additional three years of supervised release, for defrauding investors while at the helm of low-cost blood testing company Theranos.
Holmes, 38, was convicted in January by a jury in San Jose Court in California, and now Judge Edward Davila has determined the sentence, which was estimated to be as high as 20 years in prison. It is expected that she will present a plea, despite the fact that in her speech she has acknowledged her mistakes on several occasions, according to CNN.
The sentence also includes a fine of between $400 and $100 for each count of fraud committed, restitution to be determined at a later date, as reported by the same source, although in January it was stipulated that he faced a penalty of $250,000.
The government’s defense attorneys had demanded a prison sentence of 15 years with probation and restitution, while the defense team demanded only 18 months in prison and subsequent probation with community service.
In her speech she was very affected and assured that this company «was her life’s work» and that the people she tried to get involved with were the ones she «loved and respected» the most.
He has also issued an apology addressed to Theranos employees, investors and patients. «I am so sorry. I gave everything I had to build our company and save it. I regret my failures with every cell in my body,» he said.
The sentence marks the end to a nearly two-decade saga since 2003 when the then-favorite of Silicon Valley and venture capital firms founded Theranos, which at its zenith reached a valuation of $9 billion (€7.944 billion) and was dissolved in 2018 when its methods were called into question.
