(Photo : NICK OTTO/AFP via Getty Images))
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Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of blood testing and life sciences company Theranos, arrives for the first day of her fraud trial, outside Federal Court in San Jose, California. September 8, 2021. - California jurors tasked with deciding whether fallen biotech star Elizabeth Holmes is guilty of a stunning fraud or is herself a victim were set to hear opening arguments in her trial on September 8, 2021. Federal prosecutors in the heart of Silicon Valley have in their filings portrayed Holmes as a villain who swindled investors in the diagnostics company Theranos -- which she founded at age 19 -- with tests that did not work. (Photo by Nick Otto / AFP)
The suspense surrounding former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes's fraud trial has concluded with a jury finding her guilty on four of the 11 charges she faced, but several points in the legal drama remain unanswered.
The prevailing assumption is that Holmes will almost probably be sentenced to jail though the length of her sentence is difficult to predict. She might face a maximum term of 20 years in federal prison for each of the four felony charges although analysts doubt this will happen.
Elizabeth Holmes found guilty on 4 counts of fraud
Unless she can win an appeal to overturn the guilty findings, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani predicts Holmes, 37, would be sentenced to at least ten years in jail. Holmes was found guilty of defrauding Theranos investors and conspiring to defraud them, as per AP News via MSN.
An appeal is also likely, given the jury's acquittal of Holmes on four charges of defrauding and conspiring against patients who paid for Theranos blood tests that didn't operate as claimed.
After the verdicts, Holmes declined to answer questions from reporters as she exited the courtroom. US District Judge Edward Davila, who presided over the lengthy trial in San Jose, California, said Holmes's sentencing will likely take many months. Until then, she will be free on bail though she will very certainly be required to post some type of security, such as property or cash, to deter her from attempting to run.
After being found guilty of four charges of wire fraud and conspiracy, former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison, yet she was once trusted by political and media elites, including President Joe Biden, Daily Mail reported.
In 2015, while serving as Vice President under President Barack Obama, Biden paid a public visit to Theranos's headquarters in California, describing it as "the laboratory of the future."
Reports surfaced a few months later that Holmes had misled investors and patients about Theranos's notorious blood testing technology, which she claimed could screen for a range of ailments. Biden wasn't the only one who put his faith in Theranos. Barack Obama, according to Biden, is also a supporter of Holmes's work.
Biden visited Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos HQ in 2015
In 2015, the Obama administration invited Holmes to a state dinner honoring Japan's prime minister, telling Holmes that he and Obama "share [her] vision of a health care paradigm based on prevention."
Biden lauded Theranos for "charging historically low prices" and making their ostensibly game-changing diagnostic technologies accessible to the general public. Biden accompanied Holmes on a tour of Theranos's "laboratory and production facilities, witnessing Theranos's finger stick test and revolutionary test system, and meeting several of the business's workers," according to the company. However, much of what he witnessed was a ruse.
In 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion; and because she controlled 50% of the firm, her net wealth was estimated to be $4.5 billion - at least on paper. An examination by the Wall Street Journal's John Carreyrou found that Theranos was deceptive about its blood test technology and that the business was doing the vast majority of its tests with current equipment just a few months after Biden's visit.
Biden's adoration for Holmes and her shady firm hasn't aged well. Biden spoke about his own aneurysm and his late son Beau Biden's brain illness while praising Theranos during his visit.
"I've been threatening Elizabeth for the last year that I'm going to come and see the operation and be shown around," Biden added, referring to a year ago when he met Holmes at a conference and the Theranos founder was seated next to him.
Per The Washington Times, Biden isn't the only high-profile figure who has been duped. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn, former Republican Senator Bill Frist, former Secretary of State George Shultz, and former Trump Defense Secretary James Mattis were all members of the Theranos board of directors.
Related Article: Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Convicted of Fraud, Faces 4 Federal Charges
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