A U.S. appeals court has upheld the conviction of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is serving more than 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with false claims about her company’s blood-testing technology.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the fraud convictions, sentences and $452 million restitution order for Holmes and her second in command, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison.
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves federal court in San Jose, Calif., March 17, 2023.
Jeff Chiu/AP
The two had argued the court committed several legal errors and violated their constitutional rights during their separate trials. The three-judge panel for the appeals court rejected their claims, finding that any errors were harmless or that their arguments failed to show any violation.
As part of their appeal, they also challenged the restitution, arguing the figure should not have been based on the investors’ total investments. The panel stood by the restitution awarded by the lower court, concluding the “victims’ actual losses were equal to the total amount of their investments.”
Holmes, 41, was found guilty of four counts of investor fraud and conspiracy in January 2022 and sentenced to 135 months, or 11 1/4 years, in prison. She unsuccessfully fought to delay her incarceration.
The verdict followed a four-month trial that detailed Holmes’ trajectory from a Stanford University dropout in 2003 to a star business leader on the cover of Fortune magazine a little more than a decade later.
Her downfall began in 2015 amid investigations from journalists and regulators over the medical company’s faulty product, which claimed to provide accurate information from tests using just a few drops of blood.
Balwani, 59, the former romantic partner of Holmes and president of the now-defunct blood testing company, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in July 2022 and sentenced to 155 months in prison.
ABC News’ Max Zahn contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
