Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, finally charged

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really see how what she did is different from many startups. 11 years is insane for a crime for which nobody was physically hurt or even lost their savings a la madoff. They are making an example out of her (like Martha Stewart) and it funny because you never hear of men getting outsized sentences like this.

Madoff was sentenced to 150 years.
James Paul Lewis got 30 years.
Wells Fargo had to pay 1 billion.
Not all frauds have gotten off easy.

I know there are examples of well-connected men who’ve gotten away with worse—Michael Liberty comes to mind—but that doesn’t make those ridiculously mild sentences and presidential pardons right.

Are you saying that she deserves less than 11 years for stealing people’s money and threatening anyone who might expose her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really see how what she did is different from many startups. 11 years is insane for a crime for which nobody was physically hurt or even lost their savings a la madoff. They are making an example out of her (like Martha Stewart) and it funny because you never hear of men getting outsized sentences like this.

Madoff was sentenced to 150 years.
James Paul Lewis got 30 years.
Wells Fargo had to pay 1 billion.
Not all frauds have gotten off easy.

I know there are examples of well-connected men who’ve gotten away with worse—Michael Liberty comes to mind—but that doesn’t make those ridiculously mild sentences and presidential pardons right.

Are you saying that she deserves less than 11 years for stealing people’s money and threatening anyone who might expose her?

DP but yes, I think she deserves less than that. I don’t think anyone should get more than 10 years unless we are talking about multiple premeditated murders.

[Anonymous]

How long do you think she will actually have to serve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long do you think she will actually have to serve?

At least nine yrs. This is fed prison, you have to serve at least 85 percent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long do you think she will actually have to serve?

At least nine yrs. This is fed prison, you have to serve at least 85 percent

This. But she still has her appeal bites at the apple. We will see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really see how what she did is different from many startups. 11 years is insane for a crime for which nobody was physically hurt or even lost their savings a la madoff. They are making an example out of her (like Martha Stewart) and it funny because you never hear of men getting outsized sentences like this.

That's because there are so many men that do this that it doesn't make the news. The fact that she is a woman is the reason that it's made the news. If she was a man, no one would be paying attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really see how what she did is different from many startups. 11 years is insane for a crime for which nobody was physically hurt or even lost their savings a la madoff. They are making an example out of her (like Martha Stewart) and it funny because you never hear of men getting outsized sentences like this.

Leona Helmsley got 16 years for tax evasion but then it got reduced which is probably what will happen here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

Be an honest person, work hard, and obey the laws. Not hard.

She is the type of a person who wants murderers get light sentences of ten years or less.

You’re right, I am. I don’t think retribution is the answer.

What do you think is the answer? How do we make sure these intelligent people with a life full of legitimate options stay on the right track? Would a good talking to make a difference do you think?

I think short sentences are plenty impactful. Especially on people like Holmes.

Frankly I think the sentences should be longer since they have no excuse. They had legit opportunities. They had education. They knew they were stealing and lying. They were greedy. They have no excuse at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

Be an honest person, work hard, and obey the laws. Not hard.

She is the type of a person who wants murderers get light sentences of ten years or less.

You’re right, I am. I don’t think retribution is the answer.

What do you think is the answer? How do we make sure these intelligent people with a life full of legitimate options stay on the right track? Would a good talking to make a difference do you think?

I think short sentences are plenty impactful. Especially on people like Holmes.

Frankly I think the sentences should be longer since they have no excuse. They had legit opportunities. They had education. They knew they were stealing and lying. They were greedy. They have no excuse at all.

That’s nice. I don’t agree at all. If it up to me we would have sentencing ceilings instead of sentencing minimums. Our system of punishment is crazy and history will judge us harshly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

Be an honest person, work hard, and obey the laws. Not hard.

She is the type of a person who wants murderers get light sentences of ten years or less.

You’re right, I am. I don’t think retribution is the answer.

What do you think is the answer? How do we make sure these intelligent people with a life full of legitimate options stay on the right track? Would a good talking to make a difference do you think?

I think short sentences are plenty impactful. Especially on people like Holmes.

Frankly I think the sentences should be longer since they have no excuse. They had legit opportunities. They had education. They knew they were stealing and lying. They were greedy. They have no excuse at all.

That’s nice. I don’t agree at all. If it up to me we would have sentencing ceilings instead of sentencing minimums. Our system of punishment is crazy and history will judge us harshly.

Long prison sentences in the US are for punishment and to help your local prosecutor or judge get relected. That’s all. It isn’t meant to be rehabilitative. If you happen to of benefited from being in prison it was not by design.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really see how what she did is different from many startups. 11 years is insane for a crime for which nobody was physically hurt or even lost their savings a la madoff. They are making an example out of her (like Martha Stewart) and it funny because you never hear of men getting outsized sentences like this.

Many patients have been affected by Theranos’ lab inaccuracies. And who knows how many have died.

Eleven years is not enough!

None died. There has been a thorough investigation to pin as much harm as possible on her and her partner.

And if there wasn't a thorough investigation, it would have been a sham trial. Setting the bar at death, is incredibly naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

Be an honest person, work hard, and obey the laws. Not hard.

She is the type of a person who wants murderers get light sentences of ten years or less.

You’re right, I am. I don’t think retribution is the answer.

What do you think is the answer? How do we make sure these intelligent people with a life full of legitimate options stay on the right track? Would a good talking to make a difference do you think?

I think short sentences are plenty impactful. Especially on people like Holmes.

Frankly I think the sentences should be longer since they have no excuse. They had legit opportunities. They had education. They knew they were stealing and lying. They were greedy. They have no excuse at all.

That’s nice. I don’t agree at all. If it up to me we would have sentencing ceilings instead of sentencing minimums. Our system of punishment is crazy and history will judge us harshly.

Long prison sentences in the US are for punishment and to help your local prosecutor or judge get relected. That’s all. It isn’t meant to be rehabilitative. If you happen to of benefited from being in prison it was not by design.

Sentences are also designed to deter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

Be an honest person, work hard, and obey the laws. Not hard.

She is the type of a person who wants murderers get light sentences of ten years or less.

You’re right, I am. I don’t think retribution is the answer.

What do you think is the answer? How do we make sure these intelligent people with a life full of legitimate options stay on the right track? Would a good talking to make a difference do you think?

I think short sentences are plenty impactful. Especially on people like Holmes.

And yet they keep needing to build more prisons.
Frankly I think the sentences should be longer since they have no excuse. They had legit opportunities. They had education. They knew they were stealing and lying. They were greedy. They have no excuse at all.

That’s nice. I don’t agree at all. If it up to me we would have sentencing ceilings instead of sentencing minimums. Our system of punishment is crazy and history will judge us harshly.

Long prison sentences in the US are for punishment and to help your local prosecutor or judge get relected. That’s all. It isn’t meant to be rehabilitative. If you happen to of benefited from being in prison it was not by design.

Sentences are also designed to deter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

She stole almost a BILLION dollars through sheer lies and fraud.

WTH? Her children would be better off never knowing her.

She didn’t steal it. It didn’t go to her bank account. She used it to try to change the world. She lied, and she failed, but she didn’t steal.

You have been hoodwinked. She was unable to create technology that did what she said it did, so she lied to EVERYONE about it. She lied to investors and told them that the tech was working when it wasn’t. She lied to employees. To keep her lies from unraveling, she made everyone sign NDAs and she segregated different departments at Theranos so the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing. She signed big contracts with retail pharmacies by faking demonstrations of her technology. She started running actual medical tests on a competitor’s equipment and pretended the results came from her technology. When her technology was used and malfunctioned, people were given incorrect results, which they used to make medical treatment decisions. She’s lucky she didn’t kill anyone directly with her depraved indifference. She did have an employee who took his own life when he realized the depth of the deception that he’d been a part of and that his reputation was ruined.

In the beginning she wanted to change the world, but her big flaw was that she would not admit that she had failed. Lying to investors, signing contracts under false pretenses, hiding information from investigators, and knowingly providing inaccurate medical information to clients is all very serious. She took large sums of money to propagate lies and get more money. That is stealing. Some of this money did go directly to her bank account. How do you think she lived a luxurious lifestyle?

She got a long sentence because because she committed multiple felonies. It didn’t help that she wouldn’t take responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it sad. I think American prison sentences are too long across the board and this is another example of it. She’ll miss so much of her children’s lives because we are so retributive.

Be an honest person, work hard, and obey the laws. Not hard.

She is the type of a person who wants murderers get light sentences of ten years or less.

You’re right, I am. I don’t think retribution is the answer.

What do you think is the answer? How do we make sure these intelligent people with a life full of legitimate options stay on the right track? Would a good talking to make a difference do you think?

I think short sentences are plenty impactful. Especially on people like Holmes.

Frankly I think the sentences should be longer since they have no excuse. They had legit opportunities. They had education. They knew they were stealing and lying. They were greedy. They have no excuse at all.

That’s nice. I don’t agree at all. If it up to me we would have sentencing ceilings instead of sentencing minimums. Our system of punishment is crazy and history will judge us harshly.

Long prison sentences in the US are for punishment and to help your local prosecutor or judge get relected. That’s all. It isn’t meant to be rehabilitative. If you happen to of benefited from being in prison it was not by design.

Sentences are also designed to deter.

Absolutely. There are definitely people out there who would decide to roll the dice if they knew you could get famous and make a fortune by lying and swindling others and you’d only get two years in prison if caught.