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Biotech The Courts

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Sentenced To More Than 11 Years In Prison (cnbc.com) 158

Posted by BeauHD from the actions-have-consequences dept.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced Friday in a federal court to 135 months, more than 11 years in prison following her conviction on four counts of criminal fraud. The court found she deceived investors, including News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch and a host of other luminaries, about the efficacy of Theranos' blood-testing technology. CNBC reports: Holmes cried while speaking to the court ahead of her sentencing. "I loved Theranos. It was my life's work," Holmes said. "My team meant the world to me. I am devastated by my failings. I'm so so sorry. I gave everything I had to build my company." Her defense team argued she should face a maximum sentence of 18 months, according to court filings.

The Wall Street Journal first broke the story of how Theranos' blood-testing technology was struggling to meet expectations in 2015. Whistleblowers and other witnesses came forth to provide detailed accounts of how Holmes and former operating chief Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani deceived patients, partners, investors and employees about the company's progress and the capabilities of its technology. "Thank you for having me. Thank you for the courtesy and respect you have shown me," she said Friday. "I have felt deep pain for what people went through because I failed them. To investors, patients, I am sorry." Prosecutors sought a 15 year sentence for the pregnant 38-year-old former billionaire and Silicon Valley celebrity. Developing...
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Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Sentenced To More Than 11 Years In Prison More

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Sentenced To More Than 11 Years In Prison

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  • Weird voice (Score:3)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:25PM (#63062237)

    Did she speak in that weird affected voice that she's known to use?

    • Did she speak in that weird affected voice that she's known to use?

      I kind of hope she did.

      At this point, her bullshitting any further should have enhanced her damn sentence.

      • this voice? [youtube.com] - "I started to see business as a vehicle for making a change in the world". "This is a young lady who read the whole of Herman Melville's Moby Dick at the age of 9" - I haven't managed to listen to the whole interview, just a few secs is bad enough, but gives a real idea of where she used to be.

        TBH, though, what she says sounds like so many other bullshit CEOs.

        • "This is a young lady who read the whole of Herman Melville's Moby Dick at the age of 9" - I haven't managed to listen to the whole interview, just a few secs is bad enough, but gives a real idea of where she used to be.

          Next thing she'll be telling us is that she's a stable genius and being victimised by a radical-left judge.

        • Was she born male or something?

  • Just glad she didnt get out of it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AcidFnTonic ( 791034 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:28PM (#63062243) Homepage

    Just glad she didn't get out of it. Lots of protected classes there.

    White
    Female
    Wealthy
    Charming

    Glad she got the kind of sentence she deserved.

    • The demo that strikes me is how young she still is to have hustled and then lost billions - just 38. What a ride.

      (Hey, same age as Zuck!)

      • The only reason she got to hustle all that money is because of who her parents are.
        Can you imagine some kid whose Dad is a mechanic getting several ex-cabinet ministers and retired generals on the board of her company?

        This bird is a member of the ruling class, and she embarrased a bunch of influential people.

        I'm not breaking out the champagne until she's actually locked up though.

    • Female only helps in court when determining custody or avoiding murder charges, and even then only when coupled with the Charming. But the court seemed to have had enough of being Charmed.

    • Just glad she didn't get out of it. Lots of protected classes there.

      White Female Wealthy Charming

      Glad she got the kind of sentence she deserved.

      I'd say she gets half credit at best here.

      She was only wealthy due to her corruption. And killing people for profit, isn't exactly what I would call charming.

      Hell, even female is debatable based on that voice.

      • She was born into wealth:

        Her father, Christian Rasmus Holmes IV, was a vice president at Enron, an energy company that later went bankrupt after an accounting fraud scandal. Her mother, Noel Anne (née Daoust), worked as a Congressional committee staffer.[12][11] Christian later held executive positions in government agencies such as USAID, the EPA, and USTDA.[13][14] Christian is of part Danish ancestry. Her paternal great-great-great-grandfather was Charles Louis Fleischmann, a Hungarian immigrant who founded the Fleischmann's Yeast company.[15] The Holmes family "was very proud of its yeast empire" history, according to a family friend Joseph Fuisz, "I think the parents very much yearned for the days of yore when the family was one of the richest in America.

        That's from her Wikipedia page.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

      White, Female, Wealthy, Charming

      And Blonde. Checks all the boxes for Fox "News" anchor.
      Too bad she'll be too old when she get out of prison... :-)

    • "I am devistated by my failings". Note no admission of her shady dealings and deceit.
      Get ready for the sentencing appeal through the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      Her actual crime was ripping off rich people, so like Bernie Maddoff she'll go to jail. Loot a pension fund, steal from widows and orphans, and you might get a fine if the regulators are in a bad mood.

      • Her actual crime was ripping off rich people,.

        Her crime was also to give wrong test results - test results she knew were unreliable - to patients who received the wrong medical treatment and suffered increased worry and stress as a result.

        This isn't just about rich people's piles of money. It's about sick, not rich, people's bodies and illnesses.

    • at least some men thought so.

    • Just glad she didn't get out of it. Lots of protected classes there.

      White Female
      Wealthy
      Charming

      Glad she got the kind of sentence she deserved.

      On the contrary .. the only reason she ever succeeded was because she was in a protected class, but wokery has moved on, as it does, leaving her behind ... the rules change every week or so.

      "Women" don't really exist anymore (since anyone can be one, or not, by just wishing it). And white women are now "karens" (er, despite women not existing anymore, but let nobody say that wokery will bow to evil antiquated concepts like "logic"!).

  • I'm so so sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gosso920 ( 6330142 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:30PM (#63062245)
    ... that I got caught." - Elizabeth Holmes

    • Pretty much defines her response. No admission she was actually guilty of anything.

      Her response was more like "It was an accident, I was walking down the street, tripped on the sidewalk, and accidentally committed fraud."

  • For comparison (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hdyoung ( 5182939 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:39PM (#63062273)
    Thats more than Shkreli (5 years) and less than Skilling (24 years). Maybe just about right, then?

    I still wish they could have gone for her extended family’s money in exchange for a lesser sentence. A billion dollar fine would have hurt quite a bit more than a decade in prison.
    • Why not both the fine and the prison term. That said now that she is criminally responsible the civil suits should drain any remaining assets she has.

    • Thats more than Shkreli (5 years) and less than Skilling (24 years). Maybe just about right, then?

      It's more than most rapists.

      Fine with me that she got so long, I guess, me being an evil old white man who likes law and order, but it's weird how fast the social rules change about who to hate.

  • Pregnant (Score:3)

    by packrat0x ( 798359 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:40PM (#63062275)

    Y'all missed that right?
    So during this court case she thought it was a good idea to get pregnant. Maybe sway some sympathy?

    • Definitely. Also helps that the father is the son of an extraordinarily wealthy hotel tycoon. So push comes to shove she has the political connections of her parents and friends and the family of the father of her child with their wealth and connections to smooth things out if necessary.

    • Y'all missed that right?

      No, we just heard about it earlier, and commented on it then. Same reaction as you, mostly.

    • Y'all missed that right?
      So during this court case she thought it was a good idea to get pregnant. Maybe sway some sympathy?

      I think there's a much more obvious explanation for this.

      She wanted children and there's a good chance she'll be well past her peak child bearing years when she's out of prison.

      So while there are ways to get pregnant in prison it's probably a lot easier to find a decent partner and get pregnant before prison.

      • I think there's a much more obvious explanation for this.

        She wanted children and there's a good chance she'll be well past her peak child bearing years when she's out of prison.

        LOL! You think that raising a child while you're in prison is a good idea?

        PS: She could adopt.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sfcat ( 872532 )

          PS: She could adopt.

          That would require her being a good person, which we all know isn't true.

    • Twice. She got pregnant twice. She's expecting a second, now. The second one isn't even born, and Holmes is up for MOTY.

  • excellent (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bloodhawk ( 813939 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:41PM (#63062279)
    Not much sympathy for her, she blamed everyone but herself and took absolutely no responsibility for her own actions. Nice to see that behaviour correctly rewarded

    • Fun fact: The judge stated in his findings that that he did not think she was the primary person responsible for the crimes... Balwani may get the longer sentence, yet.

      • If you haven't grown morals by the time you're the age of majority then there's no hope for you. Perhaps as a young adult you can't live up to them some of the time, but as a sociopath Holmes has no morals. She claims no responsibility and none of it was her fault.

        She can rut under the prison for all I care.

      • that may well be the case and Balwani if he gets a longer sentence it will also be justly deserved, it doesn't excuse her behaviour though.

      • Wow, the judge said that and still gave her 11 years.

    • ... no responsibility for her own actions.

      I think she's one of those 'I made the important decisions, I don't have do any hard work' managers. That meant no supervision of her underlings and she also used the narcissist response of firing people who disagreed with her.

    • Exactly. Also, notice how when she was perpetrating fraud she was a "strong woman executive". When she was on trial she was a "helpless woman victim and a man made her do it". Which is it? I guess whatever is convenient.

  • Nice story (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Whateverthisis ( 7004192 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:50PM (#63062299)
    If her team meant the world to her, why did she isolate people both physically and socially within their groups? Why did she override everyone's opinions except for her own, even when her staff were clearly more experienced and educated than her? Why did she fire Gibbons when he had legitimate concerns about the quality of the product, and then harass him with lawyers until he was so stressed he committed suicide? She is just one talking cliche after another, always manufacturing a story to manipulate.

    She tried to emulate Steve Jobs in look but not in spirit. Jobs always said "We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do." That was definitely not the Theranos culture.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by spads ( 1095039 )
      That's textbook narcissism. The "fword-ing" narcissists always believe they are behaving justly and morally, even lovingly. It's that unbreachable self-love that empowers them to their heinous crimes.

      I think she did emulate Jobs' style and mentality to a point, though, just except that he wasn't so monumentally stupid, nor, in fact, evil.

  • "...she deceived...Rupert Murdock..." (Score:3, Insightful)

    by magusxxx ( 751600 ) <magusxxx_2000 AT yahoo DOT com> on Friday November 18, 2022 @06:16PM (#63062359)

    That's the only reason it was 11 years and not 18 months.

    • She should have professed her love of Trump and how she's a big victim for her beliefs and was betrayed. Somebody on the jury may have fallen for that! Odds are quite high the lower 30% of the bell curve would have been represented.

      I bet she has little feeling for her children so it's good somebody else will raise them; lots of sociopaths are created by sick people like her.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by quall ( 1441799 )

        Who are you trying to kid? Fake victim-hood is a Democrat thing and is one of the biggest criticisms from the right. Where have you been?

        She was also indicted in 2018 while Trump was in office, so... none of what you said makes any sense.

  • In court with infant, and now pregnant .. (Score:3)

    by kbahey ( 102895 ) on Friday November 18, 2022 @06:20PM (#63062377) Homepage

    She is a master of manipulation ...

    She married into a rich family, while awaiting the trial ...
    She got pregnant and gave birth [yahoo.com], most likely to delay the trial ...
    She attended court with baby supplies, most likely to get sympathy from the jury as a caring mother ...
    And now she is pregnant [bbc.com] again ...

    • smart rather than just a tactic to get a lighter sentence. She's 38 and she, more than anybody, knows she's guilty and therefore likely going to prison for YEARS. Given all that, if she wants kids, best to make them before years in jail render her infertile.

      Sadly, narcissists like her never project this onto their victims, so she has likely never given a thought to whether her actions did financial harm to any women who then felt like they could not afford to have the kids they wanted...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kbahey ( 102895 )

        Yeah, we can't be really sure about her intentions re: having kids.

        But regardless, this is totally irresponsible and against the best interest of the poor innocent kids.

        Maybe she gets out of prison early (say 5 years?), then it won't be as bad as when they are 11 and 12 years.

        Back to her crimes: she didn't care for the life of people who got the fake tests. People could have died because of misdiagnosed and undiagnosed conditions. That is the major crime in my view, and takes priority over regular defraudin

  • So this is appropriate. But why are the Wall Street Cunts who caused the financial meltdown years ago still walking around free. Oh yes, Obama let them off. Part of the Obama, Clinton, Biden stealth Republican syndicate. Biden is now continuing the tradition by not wanting to hold Mohammed bin Salman to account for murder. And FWIW, we all know Trump is a lying golden shower Putin dick sucking racist motherfucker; so he wasn't about to throw his Wall Street bros in jail.

    • Wait until we get more information on dear Hunter. That's going to be really awkward.
      The Dems are handing the 2024 election to any warm Republican body.
      What's the alternative? Kamala Harris? The Democratic Party has been negligent at bringing up new blood within its party.

    • What

  • This isn't over yet.

    She wont serve more than a month.

    Only poor people do time.

  • If an armed robber shoots a family, victims don't get a choice. But when it comes to getting swindled, we can verify particulars of what we are investing in or buy fraud insurance that will give us a good rate if we take proper precautions. Computer security is much more about protection than vengeance.

    In terms of fairness many who took a life get out before 10 years or even don't serve time at all, consider drunk drivers. Here yes, a lot of money has been lost. But a lot of it is from institutional investo

    • I agree. Despite my exuberant schadenfreude, this is unfair. However, it's also important to make her an example as a deterrent to others.

  • Time to move on to a few more people that continue to exploit others. Fake it till you make it only goes so far in life, eventually you run out of victims.
  • Appalling. You're being tried in court and you go ahead and get preagnant. What the hell is that? A last ditch gamble "maybe they'll not sentence a preagnant woman"? I bet her kid will feel real blessed seeing their mom though bars for the first 10 years of their life. The nerve!

  • Apparently, while it's ok to dupe the masses, better not dupe the rich and powerful.

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