Former Theranos boss Elizabeth Holmes has been sentenced to 135 months in prison

The sentence imposed by US District Judge Edward Davila was shorter than the 15-year sentence required by federal prosecutors but far harsher than the leniency her legal team was asking for the mother of a one-year-old son with another child on the way.

Holmes, who was CEO during the company’s tumultuous 15-year history, was convicted in January in the trial surrounding the company’s claims of having developed a medical device that could diagnose a variety of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood could recognize. But the technique never worked.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

A federal judge was scheduled to decide Friday whether disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes should serve a lengthy prison sentence for deceiving investors and endangering patients while peddling fake blood-testing technology.

The conviction of Holmes in the same San Jose, Calif., courtroom where she was convicted on four counts of investor fraud and conspiracy in January marks another high point in a saga that has resulted in an HBO documentary and an award-winning Hulu series about her meteoric rise and agonizing fall were dissected.

Theranos promised to deliver revolutionary technology that could screen for hundreds of diseases and other foods with just a few drops of blood. But it never worked.

US District Judge Edward Davila will be the focus as he weighs the federal government’s recommendation that 38-year-old Holmes be sent to federal prison for 15 years. That’s less than the maximum sentence of 20 years, but her legal team is asking for a detention of no more than 18 months, preferably under house arrest.

Her lawyers have argued that Holmes deserves more lenient treatment as a well-meaning entrepreneur who is now a devoted mother with another child on the way. Her arguments were supported by more than 130 letters submitted by family, friends and former colleagues praising Holmes.

A parole report, also presented to Davila, recommended a nine-year sentence.

Prosecutors are also seeking $804 million in compensation from Holmes. The amount covers most of the nearly $1 billion Holmes raised from a list of sophisticated investors including software magnate Larry Ellison, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family behind Walmart.

While courting investors, Holmes utilized a senior Theranos board that included former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who testified against her during her trial, and two former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger and the late George Shultz, whose son made a statement in the Holmes was blown up for devising a plan that played Shultz “for the fool”.

Davila’s sentencing – and Holmes’ report date for a possible jail term – could be affected by her second pregnancy in two years. After giving birth to a son just before her trial began last year, Holmes got pregnant sometime this year while she was out on bail.

Although her lawyers made no mention of the pregnancy in an 82-page memo presented to Davila last week, the pregnancy was confirmed in a letter from her current partner, William “Billy” Evans, urging the judge to be merciful.

In that 12-page letter, which included pictures of Holmes doting on her 1-year-old son, Evans mentioned that earlier this year Holmes had competed in a swimming competition on the Golden Gate Bridge while she was pregnant. He also noted that Holmes suffered from a case of COVID-19 while pregnant in August. Evans did not disclose Holmes’ due date in his letter.

If Holmes’ pregnancy plays a role in reducing or qualifying her sentence, the decision could prove controversial. A 2019 study found that more than 1,000 pregnant women were sent to federal or state prisons over a 12-month study period; 753 of them gave birth in custody.

According to a 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics survey, more than half of the women sent to a federal prison — 58% — said they were mothers of minor children.

Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense attorney, predicted that Davila’s sentencing decision would not be affected by the pregnancy. But Levin expects the judge to allow her to stay free until the baby is born.

“She will be no more at risk of fleeing post-conviction than she was while awaiting sentencing,” Levin said. “We need to temper our judgments with a measure of humanity.”

The pregnancy makes it more likely that Davila will be criticized no matter what sentence he faces, predicted Amanda Kramer, another former federal prosecutor.

“There’s a pretty healthy debate going on about what kind of penalty is required to create a general deterrent to sending a message to others who are thinking of crossing that line from sharp salesmanship to material misrepresentation,” Kramer said.

US Attorney Robert Leach said Holmes deserved a severe sentence for orchestrating what he described as one of the most egregious white-collar crimes ever committed in Silicon Valley. In a scathing 46-page memo, Leach told the judge he had an opportunity to send a message that would curb the hubris and hyperbole fueled by the tech boom.

Holmes “has capitalized on her investors’ hopes that a young, dynamic entrepreneur is transforming healthcare,” Leach wrote. “And through her deception, she achieved spectacular fame, adoration, and billions of dollars in wealth.”

Although Holmes was acquitted by a jury on four counts of fraud and conspiracy involving patients undergoing Theranos blood tests, Leach also urged Davila to consider the health hazards posed by Holmes’ behavior.

Holmes’ attorney Kevin Downey painted her as a selfless visionary who spent 14 years of her life revolutionizing healthcare.

Although evidence presented during her trial showed the blood tests gave wildly unreliable results that could have led patients to wrong treatments, her lawyers claimed that Holmes never stopped perfecting the technology until Theranos collapsed in 2018.

They also pointed out that Holmes never sold any of their Theranos shares — a $4.5 billion stake in 2014, when Holmes was being hailed as the next Steve Jobs on the covers of business magazines.

Defending against criminal charges has left Holmes “substantial debts from which she is unlikely to recover,” Downey wrote, hinting that she is unlikely to pay any compensation that Davila may order as part of her sentence.

“Holmes is not a threat to society,” Downey wrote.

Downey also asked Davila to consider the alleged sexual and emotional abuse Holmes suffered while she was romantically involved with Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who became a Theranos investor, top executive, and eventually an accomplice in her crimes.

Balwani, 57, is due to be sentenced December 7 after being convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy in a July trial.