Theranos' Holmes to be sentenced in September for fraud conviction

[January 13, 2022]  By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) - Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is slated to be sentenced on Sept. 26 on her convictions for defrauding investors in the blood-testing startup, according to a court filing on Wednesday.

Holmes, 37, was convicted on Jan. 3 on three counts of fraud and one count of conspiring to defraud private investors in the company. She remains free on a $500,000 bond secured by properties.

Holmes plans to ask the judge overseeing her case to overturn her convictions, according to court filings. If he does not, she is likely to appeal and could seek to suspend her sentence until a final ruling.

The former entrepreneur became a Silicon Valley celebrity after claiming Theranos machines could run common blood tests on a few drops from a finger prick. Once valued at $9 billion, Theranos collapsed after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles, starting in 2015, that suggested its devices were flawed and inaccurate.

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes arrives for a hearing at a federal court in San Jose, California, U.S., July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo

Holmes was indicted in 2018 on allegations of defrauding investors and patients. Last week, a jury convicted her on four investor-related charges, acquitted her on four patient-related charges and deadlocked on three other counts.

Holmes had agreed with prosecutors that her sentencing should occur in September, given "ongoing proceedings in a related matter."

The trial of former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani is scheduled to begin on March 9.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.