Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, a one-time billionaire and darling of Silicon Valley who promised a revolutionary blood-testing technology, has been found guilty of four charges in her criminal fraud trial.
The jury of eight men and four women were handed the case in mid-December after three months of proceedings and testimony from 32 witnesses. Deliberations lasted more than 50 hours over seven days.
In the end, the jurors convicted Holmes, 37, of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud against specific investors. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila will sentence Holmes at a later date. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the conspiracy count carries a maximum of five years. Legal experts say it’s highly unlikely she will get anything close to that.
Holmes was found not guilty on four charges and the jury determined there was no verdict on the other three. Jurors told Davila earlier Monday that they were deadlocked on three of the 11 charges. Davila later declared a mistrial on those three counts and tentatively scheduled a status meeting for next week. Legal experts anticipate she will appeal.
Once heralded as the next Steve Jobs, Holmes raised $945 million from high-profile investors including the family of Betsy DeVos, Rupert Murdoch and the Walmart-founding Walton family. Theranos, at its peak, was valued at $9 billion.
Holmes was ultimately convicted of defrauding PFM Healthcare Master Fund, a San-Francisco based health-care hedge fund, out of more than $38 million; Lakeshore Capital Management, a fund connected to the DeVos family, of almost $100 million; and Mosley Family Holdings, an LLC associated with former estate attorney Daniel Mosley, of close to $6 million.
As the jury handed was handing down its decisions, Holmes appeared stoic, showing little emotion and looking straight ahead. After the verdict was read, she went over to her family and embraced them.
Holmes exited the courthouse without taking questions from reporters. Her attorneys also left without providing comment.
[“source=cnbc”]