Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will report to prison on May 30, a federal judge ruled Wednesday afternoon, after her request to avoid prison while appealing her conviction on fraud charges was rejected.
Key Takeaways
- Holmes is required to report to prison—likely in a minimum-security prison in Bryan, Texas—no later than 2 p.m. on May 30 to begin her 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in Theranos, Judge Edward J. Davila said.
- Holmes’ request to stay out of prison while she appeals her fraud conviction was denied Tuesday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, with a panel of judges ruling her appeal was unlikely to result in her sentence being overturned.
- On Wednesday, attorneys for Holmes filed a request—unopposed by federal prosecutors—that May 30 be the date set for Holmes to begin her sentence, saying she needed some time to “make preparations,” such as “medical and child-care arrangements in anticipation of beginning her 135-month sentence,” CBS San Francisco reported; Holmes has two children with her partner William Evans.
Key Background
Holmes was convicted on four counts of defrauding Theranos investors last year and sentenced in November. Her co-conspirator and former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was convicted of 12 charges of defrauding Theranos investors and patients and began serving his almost 13-year sentence in April.
Holmes was originally scheduled to begin serving her sentence on April 27, but that was delayed while an appellate court considered her plea to stay out of prison.
Federal prosecutors in the past have repeatedly expressed opposition to her requests, declaring Holmes a flight risk after she bought a one-way ticket to Mexico once she had been convicted of fraud, leading prosecutors to allege she “attempt(ed) to flee the country.”
Big Number
$452,047,268. That’s how much the Northern District of California federal court ordered Holmes and her former deputy Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani to pay each in restitution to investors affected by their “fraud conspiracy.”
This story was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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