Do It for Her Children

By, "Her," I mean healthcare bunco artist Elizabeth Holmes, and by, "It," I mean, send her to jail for a very long time.

Her children will be better served by not being raised by a narcissistic psychopath, and it will provide them with an antidote to the privilege that they will encounter in the rest of their lives.

Needless to say, Ms. Holmes does not share my view, and she and her legal team are asking for a year and a half of home confinement, rather than the 20 years that each of the 4 charges of which was convicted could possibly yield.

Send her to jail:

Elizabeth Holmes and her legal defense team are asking for an 18-month period of house arrest, as opposed to the maximum 80 years of potential jail time the Theranos founder faces. In a memo pleading for leniency, Holmes requested that the court “look beyond that caricature,” of her in the media and “examine Ms. Holmes the human being.”

The disgraced entrepreneur was convicted on four counts of fraud against investors in January, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Though notably, the jury did not find her guilty of other fraud charges related to the actual patients who received incorrect medical diagnoses as result of her sham blood testing technology. Following the verdict Holmes requested a new trial, but that demand was rebuffed by presiding district court Judge Edward Davila on Monday.

Now, an 82-page document filed late on Thursday is her defense team’s latest move to minimize their client’s prison time. It begins with a description of Holmes’ childhood and includes section titles like: “Ms. Holmes Objects to the Calculation of the Number of Victims,” “Caring and Reliable Friend,” and “Deep Interest in Making the World a Better Place.” In addition to the memo, Holmes also filed hundreds of pages of supporting documents including 130 letters submitted by “individuals who actually know [her].”

Translation:  She's a blond white woman from a well off an prominent family, people like her don't go to jail.

She is due to be sentenced, and I hope that it is long enough (10 years) to preclude her placement in a minimum security facility.