U.S. prosecutors issued a late Friday recommendation that Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes should serve 15 years in prison and pay $800 million in restitution to investors who were defrauded by the blood testing startup.
The recommendation from the Department of Justice was made in a court filing as Holmes gets ready to be sentenced next week.
The prosecutors stated, "Considering the extent of Holmes' fraud, the sentence of 180 months would reflect the seriousness of the offenses, provide for just punishment for the offenses, and deter Holmes and others."
In the past, Holmes pleaded with U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, not to imprison her.
In January, the 38-year-old man was found guilty by a jury of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.The maximum sentence for each count is 20 years in prison.Most likely, each sentence would be completed simultaneously.
Prosecutors claim that from 2010 to 2015, she lied to investors by promising that Theranos Inc.'s technology could perform numerous tests on a single drop of blood from a finger prick.
Holmes had pleaded not guilty to lying about Theranos, including claiming that the company's technology could detect diseases with just a few drops of blood and that the lab directors were in charge of test quality.
On Monday, Davila turned down her requests for a new trial, including the claim that a key prosecution witness had visited her at her house and said things that hurt his testimony.
In 2003, Holmes, then 19 years old, established Theranos.In 2015, Forbes magazine estimated Holmes' net worth at $4.5 billion. The company was once valued at $9 billion.
The Wall Street Journal published a series of articles beginning in 2015 that suggested Theranos' devices were inaccurate and flawed, leading to the company's collapse.
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