Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, has been denied the request to remain free while she appeals her conviction on multiple charges of defrauding investors. Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California has denied the request, setting up the stage for Holmes to report to prison later this month.
Holmes is expected to report to a federal prison in Dublin, California, on April 27. Holmes was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison last November. However, she has been seeking a delay in the start of her prison term after giving birth to her second child.
Holmes’s attorneys claimed that she does not pose a danger to the community or a flight risk, but Judge Davila cast doubt on her appeal, saying that even if she won the appeal, it is unlikely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial for all of the counts on which she was found guilty.
Although he denied that Holmes represented a flight risk, Davila also mentioned that she had previously booked a one-way ticket to Mexico in January 2022. He noted that “booking international travel plans for a criminal defendant in anticipation of a complete defense victory is a bold move, and the failure to promptly cancel those plans after a guilty verdict is a perilously careless oversight.”
Theranos, once valued at $9 billion, attracted top investors and retail partners with claims that it had developed technology to test for a wide range of conditions using just a few drops of blood. The company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy.
Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ ex-boyfriend and the former chief operating officer at Theranos, was also found guilty of multiple counts of fraud in a separate trial. Balwani’s request to remain out of prison during his appeal was also denied, and he has been ordered by Davila to surrender to prison on April 20.
Holmes and Balwani were charged in 2018 with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. Prosecutors argued that the duo had misled investors, business partners, and patients about the capabilities of their blood-testing technology. They also accused them of misrepresenting financial information and defrauding doctors and patients who used their services.
Holmes was convicted on four counts of fraud and conspiracy in March 2021. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison in September 2021. Balwani was found guilty of multiple counts of fraud in a separate trial and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in December.
In her appeal, Holmes argued that the government had failed to prove that she intended to defraud investors or patients. Her lawyers also argued that the trial judge had made several errors during the trial, including allowing hearsay evidence and excluding expert testimony.
However, Judge Davila rejected these arguments in his order on Monday, stating that the government had presented sufficient evidence to support Holmes’ conviction and that the trial judge had not made any significant errors.
Holmes’ request to delay reporting to prison was also denied. She had requested more time to prepare for her incarceration and to care for her two children, including a newborn. However, Judge Davila stated that the Bureau of Prisons could provide adequate medical care for Holmes and her children and that Holmes had not shown that her children would suffer if she were incarcerated.
