Having failed to win herself a new trial, Theranos founder and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes will be sentenced Friday. Prosecutors want her put away for 15 years; she thinks 18 months of house arrest will be quite enough.
Holmes' lawyers are reluctant to describe her as a fully grown adult. Instead, they describe her as a "teenager who had four quarters of college and some laboratory research experience under her belt but no business or management experience." When she was convicted at 34, the filing reminds us she was "still a relative newcomer to the business world."
Holmes' apparent immaturity is supported by a total of 130 letters written by "individuals who actually know Ms. Holmes," including a letter from her husband, Billy Evans, which has already made waves in the tabloid world. Among other details, it reveals that Holmes is currently pregnant and that her husky, Balto (which Holmes reportedly told people was a wolf), has been "carried away by a mountain lion" from their front porch.
Don't fall for the "faces 20 years in jail" headlines, based on theoretical maximums. Manuel Noriega, a drug lord and dictator whose country the U.S. invaded to the specific end of effecting his arrest, was out in 17.
