Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the associate of Elizabeth Holmes, who has been disgraced, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
In July, Balwani was found guilty of 12 charges of wire fraud and plotting to commit wire fraud for his involvement in the unsuccessful blood-testing venture. Executives from Theranos falsely stated that their product was able to diagnose sicknesses with a minuscule amount of blood from a finger prick.
Holmes was given a term of 135 months in jail last month.
Balwani remained silent as he was given a 155-month prison term after a near four-hour sentencing hearing on Wednesday. His legal representatives have declared that, similar to Holmes, he will appeal.
He was convicted of defrauding patients with the blood tests, in contrast to Holmes who was found guilty of four fraud charges.
Once touted as a “young Steve Jobs”, she left Stanford University at 19 to establish Theranos. The organization’s value skyrocketed on the back of its promise to revolutionize the way of diagnosing illnesses.
Balwani, the ex-president and COO of the corporation, was the deputy to the head and had authority over the labs.
The two were initially charged together, however, Holmes claimed that Balwani had emotionally and physically abused her during their romantic relationship at Theranos. She claimed his manipulation of her was controlling, impacting her business choices, and so the trials were split.
Balwani, 19 years her senior, has denied the claims.
In a memo to the judge before the sentencing, lawyers for Mr Balwani asserted that he was not on the same level as Elizabeth Holmes, describing her as “significantly more culpable” for the fraud.
He put in millions of his own funds; shunning fame and glory; and has a long record of silently aiding the disadvantaged.
In San Jose, California, the center of Silicon Valley, the same court heard the sentence less than three weeks prior, when Holmes discovered her destiny.
The turnout for Balwani’s trial was much smaller than for Holmes’. On 18 November, when her sentencing took place, people had queued up five hours before the court opened, but there was no such queue for Holmes.
Source: bbc.com