Society rarely assess the wider impact of white collar crimes such as what Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos buddy were found guilty of, because we do not see in front of us, the thousands of broke, poor individuals who lose their life savings in trying to make a few quick bucks investing in companies such as Theranos, only to find it all explode in their faces and off with their hard earned cash!
Holmes, smiling in photos taken on her way to court, holding hands with her parents and husband, like she is the one in need of protection and care, not those poor fools who have lost their money and even if she coughs up and they get bits back, after several years, it will never mitigate.
However, sending her to jail for the 11 years she has been handed, but letting her out after 12 – 18 months on an ankle tag to ensure she stays at home (and carting her off to Jail if she defaults) for say 3 – 5 years house arrest and a couple of years of unpaid community service e.g. cleaning the floor in a hospital, would be a lot more sensible than locking her up for 11 years, even if she only ends up serving 4 or 5 years. I mean, what is the purpose? punishment? as I very much doubt she would come out of jail after 11 years a reformed character. She simply didn’t see the impact or effect on the people who invested in her company and she is not alone in this. Thousands of startups seek public investment each year, many of them end up using all that fund to pay themselves huge salaries for as long as possible, caring less for the eventual fate of the business and investors suddenly receive a letter stating the business tried its best but didn’t work out and that’s that. In Elizabeth Holmes’ case, it is almost certain that her motivation was not to fleece investors; she was someone who sought the status of being reviled as some hot-shot genius inventor and wanted to be the next Steve Jobs and get talked about etc. It is also highly unlikely that she pocketed anywhere near the $450m or so that she and her buddy now have to cough up. No doubt she got paid $millions in wages but other than a net value based on shares in Theranos, it is unlikely that she was a billionaire in real terms.
Yes, deterrence is always necessary, so that other do not think they could get away with it, but many are anyway, they are simply not doing it at the scale she did or not based on the circumstances she was in. Some months in jail would tick the deterrence box and the rest under house arrest plus some community service should suffice. Nothing tangible to gain from locking her up for 11 years. Many politicians have been a lot more deceitful and caused a great deal more damage than she has and have not had to face the music..
Knowledge can improve the world we live in 