Elizabeth Holmes presented more than 130 letters to US District Judge Edward Davila in a bid for leniency when he sentences her for fraud.
The letters are aimed at humanizing Holmes, the founder of blood-testing startup Theranos Inc., whose lawyers say she has become a caricature in the public eye after being endlessly “mocked and vilified” by the media. The first was from Billy Evans, who began his eight-page, single-spaced missive by telling the judge that “you hold the life of my partner in your hands.”
The letters — some just a single paragraph, others with photos attached, handwritten or typed — aim to convey a woman filled with good intentions who’s passionate about improving health care. Written by family, friends, investors and former company employees, the letters were filed in federal court in San Jose, California, 10 months after a jury found Holmes guilty of defrauding investors who lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Theranos.
Source: More Zealot Than Showman: Elizabeth Holmes Admirers Speak Out – Bloomberg
