Former Theranos chief working officer and president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was sentenced to almost 13 years in jail Wednesday for fraud, after the unraveling of the blood-testing juggernaut prompted prison expenses in California federal courtroom in opposition to each Balwani and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who on Nov. 18 was sentenced to greater than 11 years in jail.
During the sentencing listening to, attorneys for Balwani tried to pin the blame on Holmes, telling U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Davila that “decisions were made by Elizabeth Holmes.”
Davila had set a sentencing vary of 11 years plus 3 months to 14 years, however prosecutors at present sought a 15-year sentence given his “significant” oversight function at Theranos’ lab business.
The ultimate guideline sentence was 155 months, plus three years of probation. Davila set a Mar. 15, 2023, give up date.
Sunny Balwani, former president of Theranos Inc., arrives at federal courtroom in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Balwani and Holmes, former romantic companions, helmed Theranos as the corporate loved a meteoric rise, attracting backers starting from the DeVos household to news magnate Rupert Murdoch. It was certainly one of Murdoch’s publications, The Wall Street Journal, that first reported on irregularities with Theranos’ purportedly revolutionary blood-testing machines.
As COO, Balwani managed each the laboratory business and the monetary features of the corporate. Theranos was marred with repeated failures throughout his tenure, together with falsified paperwork and faulty check outcomes.
“I am responsible for everything at Theranos,” Balwani mentioned in a message to Holmes. Balwani assumed broad duty for day-to-day operations on the firm.
Theranos claimed the machines required only a few drops of blood to run and will execute greater than 1,000 exams. In actuality, the Journal reported the corporate may solely course of a little bit over a dozen exams. The Journal’s reporting ultimately prompted the corporate’s dissolution in 2018 and, later, the arrest of Balwani and Holmes on fraud expenses.
Balwani’s sentencing in federal courtroom marks the tip of the Theranos saga, which enthralled the general public and prompted documentary movies and novel therapies.
With a star-studded investor record, a charming founder who drew comparisons to Apple’s Steve Jobs, and a doubtlessly revolutionary expertise, the corporate for a time represented the apex of Silicon Valley ingenuity.
The revelations about Theranos caused a shocking fall from grace for each Balwani and Holmes, who had been in a relationship for a lot of their tenure on the firm. Holmes accused Balwani of abuse in courtroom proceedings, offering textual content messages and contemporaneous notes from their relationship as proof.
“Kill the old Elizabeth,” Balwani purportedly advised her.
Balwani perpetrated a “decade-long campaign of psychological abuse,” Holmes’ attorneys argued. Balwani is almost 20 years older than Holmes, who testified that he managed the lab and monetary aspect of the business.
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