A federal judge in the city of San Jose, California, has sentenced the young star of the biotech industry, the founder of the Theranos start-up. Elizabeth Holmes has to go to prison for 135 months, that is eleven years and three months. The pregnant 38-year-old must not start her prison sentence before April 27 next year. In January, a jury found Holmes guilty of willfully misleading investors.
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Holmes left Stanford University in 2003 at age 19 to found Theranos. The start-up promised to simplify blood testing with a breakthrough technology that allowed samples to be taken in just a few drops. Investors were thrilled, at times Theranos was valued at around nine billion dollars. Holmes has garnered such prominent supporters as former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
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From famous star to impostor
The company founder has been hailed on magazine covers and conferences as a successful self-made billionaire. But the sharp rise was followed by the spectacular crash: In 2015, an investigative report by The Wall Street Journal cast serious doubts about Theranos’ technology. Though Holmes initially stubbornly denied all allegations, his house of cards continued to falter. A series of other investigative articles finally exposed the alleged success story as a hoax. In fact, Theranos’ supposed innovations didn’t work, instead the company has apparently been secretly using conventional testing methods. Fraud allegations followed in 2018.
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The penalty is a blow to Holmes. His lawyers had pleaded for up to 18 months in prison and otherwise asked for house arrest and community hours as punishment. The prosecution had asked for a minimum of 15 years in prison. Under the law, Holmes could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
According to US media, he has already announced that he will appeal the verdict. Federal Judge Edward Davila said her failure to enter a guilty plea put her at a disadvantage in determining his conviction.
qu/ack (dpa, afp, rtr)
