Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison

A federal judge on Friday sentenced former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes to 11.25 years in prison and three years of supervised release for defrauding investors in the failed blood testing company. Holmes, facing 11 charges, was found guilty in January 2022 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud, and …

[Insert sadsack pun here]

Walgreens is exactly the kind of stock that your pension is invested in.

[Tom 7]

A decent pension fund would have spread the load. Fucking insane to imagine pensions as an excuse for massive fraud - unless of course you wish your pension to be bolstered by massive fraud.

[iron]

And many people were given incorrect test results for testsw like cancer. How would you like to be told you had cancer when actually you were fine? Or worse, told you were fine then one day your family find you dead?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Or you were told you were fine and missed treatment that could have saved you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good thing she isn't being punished for that then!

That being said, I imagine that if someone had had a major medical outcome arising from defective testing, then at a minimum they would have sued Walgrens, and in turn the Theranites would have faced charges of actual physical harm.

[Julian 8]

bit hard if you are dead due to misdiagnosis

[Twanky]

Some...

Some of those who lost money investing in Theranos are extremely wealthy,

Yeah - and some were not. It does/should not affect the verdict of whether it was fraud or not.

After being found guilty the level of harm done should affect the length of the sentence and from the article it seems the judge has opted for minimum.

[Ali Dodd]

Re: Some...

no mention that her fraudulent product actualy caused people to die as the tests it used were considered accurate at the time but of course were now. 11 years is too short.

[Twanky]

Re: Some...

her fraudulent product actualy caused people to die

AFAIK she was not found guilty of that. Was it in one of the indictments that the jury was unable to resolve?

[Forget It]

Vampirella

any one:

https://archive.org/details/vampirella_202003

(Angela Carter's)

[MJB7]

For UK residents

Note that this is more like a 15-20 year sentence in the UK. In the UK there is (crudely) an automatic right to release at the half-way point. In the US it is more like 90%.

[Fred Dibnah]

Re: For UK residents

If she was tried in the UK she probably wouldn't go to prison at all.

[heyrick]

Re: For UK residents

I think it depends how many (and which) MPs she cosied up to?

I mean, she's blonde and not bad looking, so Johnson...

[MachDiamond]

Re: For UK residents

"If she was tried in the UK she probably wouldn't go to prison at all."

The difference in prison time being handed down between the US and UK is very striking. The courts in the US usually proscribe much more time.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: For UK residents

If she was in the UK she'd have made a couple of billion selling dud PPE to the NHS.

[werdsmith]

Re: For UK residents

In the UK the entire sentence is served, but some of it can be (and usually is) on license. A 15 year sentence is not the same as 15 years locked up in prison. A sentence can include a minimum time to be spent inside, but the length of the sentence includes time in custody and time on licence. On licence means a person can be returned to prison for any offence. Hence a life sentence. When a person is sentenced to life, they remain on license until they die, but not necessarily behind bars.

[Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese]

Re: For UK residents

True.

Also, time can't be added onto a sentence for bad behaviour, so if someone misbehaves while they're inside, then the authorities simply lengthen the time before they can be considered for release on licence.

[mark l 2]

Re: For UK residents

The UK automatic release on license at the half way point is only for 'regular' offenses, as if a offender is classed as dangerous they serve at least 2/3 of the sentence in prison and have to go in front of a parole board who decide when they can be released on license.

The US you can get early release from prison for 'good behavior', which is calculated as 54 days off the sentence accrued ever 12 months.but they can forfeit the right to the days off the sentence for breaking the prison rules or committing crimes while locked up. Where in the UK you can be an absolute shit while locked up and still get released at the half way point if you are not considered dangerous by the courts.

I guess though that means some people who were dangerous and committed horrible crimes in the states might get let out early just because they managed to keep their nose clean while in prison?

[david 12]

Re: For UK residents

some people who were dangerous and committed horrible crimes in the states might get let out early

Generally, "Early Release" is subject to the random decisions of random prison guards and management. You can be bad, but prisoners have very little control of what happens to them and how 'clean' they can be.

And prisons are privately operated, and the operator has no interest in early release.

Historically, it was used in the opposite way: people who were dangerous and committed horrible crimes were kept in for maximum, regardless of court minimum. So, a person who had pled guilty to a string of 'simple burglaries' -- on a string of young women, living alone -- might serve 15 years of a 3-15 year sentence. Prison authorities were, and are, a law unto themselves.

[IGotOut]

Re: For UK residents

The difference between the UK and the USA is in the US l, the more people in jail, and for longer, the more money Prison Inc. make

[Nick Ryan]

Re: For UK residents

Which is rather reflected in the percentage of the US population that live in prisons

[aerogems]

Re: For UK residents

Land of the free!*

* Unless you're poor, a minority, or have a shitty lawyer

[Graham 25]

Re: For UK residents

Federal Charges - no early release allowed.

[Pascal Monett]

"His sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2022"

So, they'll both be behind bars for XMas.

Boo hoo.

[Tony Gathercole ...]

Re: "His sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2022"

or perhaps not ...

"Holmes will begin serving her sentence on April 27, 2023, after appeals."

[Peter D]

Re: "His sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2022"

Good god, how can it take so long to lock someone up in America? In the UK you go to prison straight after sentencing.

[heyrick]

Re: "His sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2022"

Not been following the random spats between tech companies? A verdict is made. Then it's appealed. Then that is appealed. Then that might be appealed. Generally it stops when: the Supremes make a ruling, the weaker party can't afford lawyers any more, or the more powerful party gets the result they want and make it clear that they'll appeal any appeal thus dissuading continuing. It's a circus designed to employ lawyers more than serve justice.

[Graham 25]

Re: "His sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2022"

Sure but the point is that here today now, she is guilty.

She should be in jail pending her appeal just like every other non-rich criminal.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "His sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2022"

>"Your Honour, I would like an extra 4 months before I have to go to prison"

>"...Granted?"

Who bets that she tries to skip the country or goes missing when her inevitable appeal inevitably fails?

Calling it now.

[Ashto5]

She got off lightly

I have to say I believe that she got off lightly.

These massive frauds have massive consequences for smaller people.

Why does the tech sector still think a dropout from a massively successful institution, is some sort of success story?

There are a lot more CEO’s that need to be sent to jail.

This sort of sentence just sends the signal

Go for it, even if caught you will still be stinking rich when you get out.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: She got off lightly

Yes! But - Wells Fargo, 1.5 million customers defrauded. Zero criminal charges. CEO resigned, $200 million parachute reduced by 40 percent.

So, she got got off lightly in absolute terms, maybe not in relative terms.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: She got off lightly

He only stole from customers, not investors.

[MachDiamond]

Re: She got off lightly

"There are a lot more CEO’s that need to be sent to jail."

I'm a big advocate of C-level execs having much more liability for actions of the company since they can be extremely well compensated. It would likely cut down on them cutting corners when it comes to product liability and warehousing PII.

[Doogie Howser MD]

Regrets

Like most con artists, I suspect her real regret is getting caught, not having done it in the first place.

[chivo243]

Re: Regrets

...regret is getting caught.

Ah, the Richard Nixon paradox...

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Re: Regrets

She might be the classic psycho CEO stereotype and not understand any of this. It's a mental defect that some people interpret as genius leadership.

Theranos overlapped with Magic Leap and all the companies claiming to almost have fully self-driving cars. Lots of hype with no verification and no analytical thinking of what's possible. Investors should have seen a bad pattern coming but, instead, reached out with fists of money. Now we're in another dot-com bubble.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: Regrets

I suspect that it's more outrage that she wasn't allowed to get away with it. Laws are for the little people.

[DrXym]

Pro tip

If you're going to rip people off with a scam invention, it's probably best to run a kickstarter campaign. Ripping off rich people and hawking a bogus medical device attracts far too much attention.

[Nick Ryan]

Re: Pro tip

Also a really good idea to cosy up with the usual politicians when doing so. These politicians really hate it when independents try it on in their traditional territory.

[Peter D]

Those eyes

It's so strange to see her being sentenced to that amount of time. With her tender lilting voice and kind eyes she exuded such warmth, compassion and love. Witnessing the downfall of such a beautiful soul who only ever wanted to give succour to the sick is a bitter pill to swallow.

[heyrick]

Re: Those eyes

Don't want to come across as (too much of) a cynical bastard, but having worked as a Care Assistant in nursing homes, you'd be horrified at how many "really lovely nurses" get off on abusing people too gaga to fight back or even complain. That's not to say there aren't lovely nurses around, there are (and most of them I've come across were Irish), but some people who seemed excellent had real darkness inside them.

[werdsmith]

Re: Those eyes

This trait is not confined to nurses.

[Peter D]

Re: Those eyes

I was in not any small measure not taking the piss. Not any shark I might encounter taking a swim would have deader eyes than this woman and that drone of a voice would lead anyone to despair.

[heyrick]

Re: Those eyes

Just watched some videos on YouTube.

Wow. What the actual......? That's a real person? Not just an AI's idea of what a person would be like?

[Trigun]

Re: Those eyes

That was my reaction when I watched the Cold Fusion video on this quite some time back. She looked fake and sounded fake. A guess what? Her product was fake in the end.

[Sceptic Tank]

Re: Those eyes

You cannot infer personality from the way someone looks. Some of the most beautiful women I've met were also the ones who had the most awesome personalities: kind, friendly, respectful. But then, because of assumptions like the one above, people would behave most miserably towards them without even bothering to get to know them. I always kind-of assumed this was why they developed such nice personalities: you observe how other people treat you and you don't want to portray that same kind of awful personality towards other people because of how bad it looks. But with that said, I wouldn't want to get to know EH; she's demonstrated herself as being a self centered and self serving person. You really cannot tell from just looking at someone what their personality is like.

[TimMaher]

Re: Those eyes

@peter. You forgot the <sarcasm=100%> tag.

[MOV r0,r0]

Prosecutors: Elizabeth Holmes' crimes "among the most substantial white collar offences Silicon Valley or any other district has seen"

SBF: Hold my vegan latte

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, she's battling with Titans for that award