A US judge has rejected Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’ request to remain free on bail as she appeals her conviction on charges of defrauding investors in the failed blood test startup that was once valued at $9 billion.
Instead, she will report to jail on April 27, as previously scheduled.
Holmes, who rose to fame after claiming that Theranos’ tiny machines could run a series of diagnostic tests with just a few drops of blood, was convicted last year at trial in San Jose, California.
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentenced Holmes to 11 years and three months in prison in November. Holmes asked Davila to postpone the verdict while the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals reviews her case.
Davila concluded Monday that even if Holmes won her appeal to challenge the Theranos technology evidence, it would not result in a reversal or retrial of all counts she was found guilty of.
Holmes is a mother of two and gave birth to her second child earlier this year. Her lawyers previously asked the judge to take her mother’s role into account.
A US judge has rejected Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’ request to remain free on bail as she appeals her conviction on charges of defrauding investors in the failed blood test startup that was once valued at $9 billion. Holmes, pictured last October, was pregnant when she was sentenced
Holmes and Evans appear out of court at her most recent hearing
“Contrary to her suggestion that accuracy and reliability were central issues in her beliefs, Ms. Holmes’s misrepresentations to Theranos investors concerned more than just whether Theranos technology worked as promised,” he said.
Holmes, who begins serving her sentence in April, may seek bail from the 9th Circuit.
In denying the release appeal, Davila noted that Holmes was unlikely to run or endanger the community.
Davila previously advised Holmes to serve her sentence in a minimum security prison camp in Texas.
The prison – Camp Bryan – is about 100 miles north of Houston, where Holmes attended high school. It is intended for female prisoners and currently houses approx 540 prisoners.
Those serving time at the facility may accept multiple visitors on weekends.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the facility bears similarities to the one in West Virginia where Martha Stewart served time nearly 20 years ago — the same one where former NXIVM president Nancy Salzman is now serving her three-and-a-half-year sentence.
Holmes will have access to tennis courts and a running track. But she will be forced to give up her signature all-black look in exchange for pastel green, gray and white outfits.
Distance can make visits difficult for Holmes’ family, to whom she would be much closer if she were sent to the minimum security prison in Dublin, California, just an hour’s drive outside of San Francisco. Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, who were implicated in the college admissions scandal, both served short sentences at the Dublin facility.
Federal prosecutors have also said that Holmes could receive nearly a 15% reduction in jail time for good behavior, which would bring her sentence closer to 9.5 years with no possibility of parole.
Holmes’ defense team previously claimed she is the “mother of two young children.” She gave birth to her first son in July 2021. They are pictured here with her fiancé Billy Evans
The minimum security women’s prison in Bryan, Texas, where a California judge has recommended that Elizabeth Holmes should serve her 11.25 years behind bars
Holmes has been in a relationship with Evans since shortly after Theranos’ demise. He kept her by her side throughout her trial and sentencing, and the couple now share two children
The founder of Theranos has seemed unfazed by her predicament for years
The pair have always been in love and proved inseparable through Holmes’ various legal woes
Prosecutors said at trial that Holmes misrepresented Theranos’ technology and finances. Holmes testified in her defense, saying she believed her statements were accurate at the time.
On appeal, Holmes plans to challenge several of the judge’s rulings, including his granting of evidence about the accuracy of the Theranos test that predated her statements to investors.
Holmes’ co-defendant, former president of Theranos, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, was convicted at a separate trial of defrauding Theranos investors and patients and sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison.
In March, Davila rejected Balwani’s request to remain free on bail during his appeal. The 9th Circuit also ruled that Balwani’s sentence should not be delayed while it considers his case.
Last January, Holmes, 39, was convicted by a jury of four counts of criminal fraud for defrauding investors during her yearlong scheme to sell bad blood-testing technology at Theranos.
After her conviction, Holmes became pregnant with her second child.
