Judge Refuses to Overturn Guilty Verdict of Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes

A federal judge declined to overturn a jury’s guilty verdict against disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on Thursday, reports Associated Press.

A jury in San Jose, California, found Holmes guilty on four counts of fraud and conspiracy after she duped investors in her blood-testing startup.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila is set to sentence the disgraced 38-year-old Theranos CEO on October 17.

Holmes reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, as well as restitution for lying to investors about a Theranos technology she falsely claimed was a revolution in the health care industry.

Amy Saharia, one of Holmes’ lawyers, tried to persuade the judge that the jury had acted irrationally during their deliberation. But Judge Davila decided the jurors had drawn reasonable inferences from evidence presented at the trial.

Thursday was the first time Holmes returned to the court since her January 3 conviction. The verdict concluded a nearly four-month trial.

Theranos had developed a device called the Edison, which allegedly needed only a few drops of blood to scan for hundreds of health problems. Current tests generally each require a vial of blood, making it both slow and impractical to run more than a handful of patient tests at one time.

If it has worked, the Edison would have revolutionized health care by making it easier and cheaper to scan for early signs of disease and other health issues.

Holmes boasted to investors about the alleged breakthroughs, which were later proved to be untrue, according to recordings presented during the trial.

Witness testimony and other evidence also suggested that Holmes misrepresented purported deals with major pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and the U.S. military, while also hiding problems with the Edison.

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