Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former chief operating officer of Theranos who vowed to revolutionize blood testing, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 13 years in prison, more than his former partner Elizabeth Holmes, the California startup’s founder.
• Also read: Theranos: Fallen star Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison
Mr. Balwani was tried in a separate trial and found guilty in July of all counts of fraud against the company’s investors and patients.
The start-up’s former number two was sentenced to 155 months in prison following a ruling by a US federal judge on Wednesday.
Founded in 2003, Theranos promised to invent a machine capable of performing hundreds of blood diagnoses with a single drop of blood from a finger.
Thanks to this revolutionary project, the start-up had aroused the enthusiasm of many businessmen and high-ranking personalities, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis and media magnate Rupert Murdoch.
But it crumbled when The Wall Street Journal revealed in 2015 that the technology never worked as expected.
Mr Balwani’s sentencing comes less than a month after the sentencing of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in mid-November. A verdict against which she appealed.
Mr. Balwani’s ex-girlfriend had established herself as a star in Silicon Valley thanks to a well-polished story and a performance that earned her investor confidence.
At the helm of Theranos, the two lovers, who were originally sued together but eventually tried separately, had raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funds.
At its peak, her startup was valued at nearly $10 billion.