Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Theranos’ former chief working officer, has been sentenced to almost 13 years in jail. Balwani was discovered of all prices in a trial earlier this 12 months that charged him with defrauding the blood testing startup’s sufferers and buyers.
Of observe, his sentence is barely longer than the 11-year and three month sentence given to Elizabeth Holmes, the previous CEO of Theranos. Ahead of his sentencing, Balwani’s authorized group had requested for probation or home arrest, The Wall Street Journal . A probation officer had advisable a nine-year sentence, whereas prosecutors wished 15 years in jail.
Balwani can even need to pay restitution, although the quantity hasn’t but been set. He is because of give up March fifteenth.
Unlike Holmes, who was not convicted on seven out of 11 whole fraud prices in her trial, Balwani was convicted of defrauding Theranos sufferers along with the corporate’s rich buyers. As COO, Balwani oversaw the operations of the corporate’s troubled laboratory, and prosecutors argued that he had detailed information of issues with its blood exams and the chance they posed to sufferers.
Though Balwani by no means rose to the identical degree of fame as his former companion throughout his time at Theranos, his relationship with Holmes has performed closely into the intrigue surrounding the corporate’s downfall. Holmes and Balwani’s relationship featured prominently in The Dropout, a Hulu miniseries about Theranos, and textual content messages between the 2 had been learn aloud in each trials.
When Holmes took the stand in her personal protection, she mentioned Balwani had been abusive, and had misled her about points within the firm’s lab.
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