Elizabeth Holmes was given a fraud term of more than 11 years in jail.

Following her conviction in January for cheating investors while operating the failing blood testing business Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced on Friday to more than 11 years in prison.

Judge Edward Davila gave Holmes a sentence of 11 years, 3 months in jail, followed by three more years of probation. In addition, the defendant must pay a $400 fine, or $100 for each count of deception. A later time will be chosen for restitution. On April 27, 2023, Holmes was required to present herself to law enforcement. She will probably challenge her conviction.

Holmes, who was convicted in January on four counts of scamming investors, was subject to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution for each count.

While Holmes’ probation officer fought for a nine-year sentence, the government’s attorneys requested for a 15-year jail sentence, along with probation and reparations. Holmes’ legal team requested that the judge who oversaw her case, Davila, sentence her to a maximum of 18 months in jail, followed by probation and community service.

An emotional Holmes addressed the court in San Jose, California before to the announcement of the sentence. I cherished Theranos. My life’s labor was that, she said. “The individuals I most liked and admired were the ones I attempted to get engaged with Theranos. My shortcomings have destroyed me.

She also expressed her regrets to Theranos’ staff members, investors, and clients. “I’m really sorry. I sacrificed all I had in rode r to establish and maintain our business, she stated. “Every cell in my body regrets my failures.”

George Demos, a former SEC enforcement attorney and adjunct law professor at UC Davis, remarked that the judge’s “strong penalty shows that deception cannot pass for innovation in Silicon Valley.” Elizabeth Holmes said she accepts responsibility for Theranos but did not say she accepts responsibility for the deception when given the chance to speak.

One of Holmes’ attorneys, Kevin Downey, argued before the court on Friday about her punishment, saying that unlike previous defendants in corporate fraud cases, the founder of Theranos did not show greed by cashing out shares or spending money on “yachts and aircraft.” The funds were “used to produce medical technologies,” instead.

Even though Holmes did not benefit financially from the scam, federal prosecutor Jeffrey Schenk said that she did earn recognition, adoration, and a lifestyle as a result of it. He said, “She is still getting these benefits.

The shocking end to Holmes’ life came on Friday during the sentencing hearing. She was once lauded as a tech industry hero for her company’s claims to test for a variety of illnesses with only a few drops of blood, but she is now the rare tech entrepreneur to be found guilty and sentenced to jail for her company’s errors.

Holmes, who is now 38, founded Theranos in 2003 when she was 19 years old and shortly after left Stanford University to focus solely on the business. After operating under the radar for a decade, Holmes started courting the media with claims that Theranos has developed technology that allowed for a variety of ailments to be precisely and consistently tested with just a few drops of blood from a finger prick.

A who’s who of wealthy backers, including Walmart’s Walton family, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and the rich family of former education secretary Betsy DeVos, helped Theranos fund $945 million. Theranos was valued at $9 billion at its height, making Holmes a phony billionaire. She regularly wore a distinctive black turtleneck that drew analogies to the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs and was praised on magazine covers. (She hasn’t appeared in court with that expression.)

After a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 revealed that the firm had only ever completed a few of the hundreds of tests it offered using its own blood testing instrument, with uncertain accuracy, the business started to fall apart. Theranos was dependent on products made by third parties for conventional blood testing businesses.

Theranos invalidated two years’ worth of blood test results in 2016. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed “massive fraud” accusations against Holmes and Theranos in 2018. As part of the settlement, neither party admitted or denied any of the claims. Soon later, Theranos was no more.

In her trial, Holmes claimed that while running Theranos, she had been in an abusive relationship with Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the company’s COO, for ten years. She said that Balwani sought to regulate almost every part of her life, isolating her from other people and controlling her eating, speech, and appearance. (Balwani’s legal counsel refuted her assertions.)

Balwani, who was convicted on all 12 crimes in a separate trial in July, is also eligible for the maximum jail sentence. On December 7, Balwani is due to get his punishment.

Federal prosecutors said in a court document from November addressing Holmes’ punishment that “the ramifications of Holmes and Balwani’s fraudulent behavior were far-reaching and serious.” Numerous investors lost more than $700 million, and many patients got medical information from Theranos’ defective testing that was either completely wrong or unreliable, seriously endangering their health.

More than a hundred individuals submitted letters to Davila in Holmes’ defense pleading for compassion in her punishment. The list includes Sen. Cory Booker, Holmes’ business partner Billy Evans, many Holmes and Evans family members, and early Theranos investor Tim Draper. Years before she was accused, Booker recalled meeting her at a dinner and becoming friends over the fact that they were both vegans with nothing to eat except a bag of almonds that they shared.

Booker said, adding that he still views her as a friend, “I still feel that she hangs onto the optimism that she can make contributions to the lives of others, and that she may, despite faults, make the world a better place.”

Prior to the hearing, there were concerns about how changes in Holmes’ life after her departure from Theranos may affect her sentence. Evans, Holmes’ boyfriend, and their kid were introduced in 2017. Holmes’ most recent court appearance in the middle of October and recent court documents both demonstrate that she is pregnant.

Prior to the hearing, Mark MacDougall, a white-collar defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, told MINIECHAT Business that Holmes’s young child may have an effect on her sentence.

Judges are human, so I don’t see how it can’t, he said.

Additionally, MacDougall stated that he does not see the purpose of a lengthy prison term. Elizabeth Holmes won’t ever again be the CEO of a significant business, he declared. She will never again be in a situation where something similar can occur.