Prosecutors sought 15 years in prison for slain Silicon Valley star Elizabeth Holmes, while the defense sought the maximum sentence of a year and a half, in documents filed Friday night. After pleading guilty to fraud in a well-attended trial in January, the founder of Theranos, the startup that promised to revolutionize blood tests, will be sentenced next Friday in a California federal court.
As the hearing approached, the prosecution sent a sharp indictment to the court, asking the 38-year-old woman to be sentenced to 15 years in prison and to return 800 million dollars to the victims. “Blinded by ambition“Elizabeth Holmes”defrauded dozens of investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars“and”put patients at risk– justified the prosecutor Stephanie Hinds, scolding the victim’s boss for not accepting his responsibility.
Ms. Holmes poses no threat, has not profited materially from this case, and therefore does not deserve more than a year and a half in prison for dereliction of duty.”ambitious project– answered his lawyers. Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, aged just 19, with the promise of diagnostic tools that were faster and cheaper than traditional labs.
With the help of a very elaborate story and appearance, in a few years she managed to win the trust of luminaries and raise funds from prestigious investors, who were attracted by the profile of this young woman, a rarity in the male world of California engineers.
At its peak, the company was valued at about $10 billion, and Elizabeth Holmes, the majority shareholder, heads the $3.6 billion fortune, according to Forbes magazine.
The story was beautiful. As a child, she hated the needle sticks during blood tests. Therefore, he will invent a simple, fast and efficient machine that will allow everyone to perform hundreds of blood tests from a single drop of blood taken from a fingertip.
But in 2015 Wall Street Journal raises a huge rose. The mythical machine promised by Theranos never worked.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.