Elizabeth Holmes’ Ex-Lover Gets Longer Sentence for Theranos Fraud
GAME OVER
Nearly three weeks after Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 11 and a quarter years in jail for defrauding investors in the blood-testing startup Theranos, her former lover and chief operating officer, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, finally faced the music as well. Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sentenced him to 155 months in jail—nearly 13 years—plus three years of probation. Unlike Holmes, Balwani chose not to speak or apologize prior to receiving his sentence. Balwani, 57, was convicted over the summer on 12 counts related to fraud; earlier in the year Holmes was convicted on four out of 11 counts (the jury deadlocked on three others). Before their falling out, the former couple had exchanged lovesick messages, according to evidence submitted by prosecutors, such as, “You are the breeze in [the] desert for me.” Holmes later accused Balwani of a pattern of abuse; he disputed the allegations.