Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered by a judge to report to prison while she appeals her conviction on charges of defrauding investors in the failed blood-testing company that was once estimated at $9 billion.
In a court order filed Monday evening, federal Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California confirmed Holmes must report to prison on April 27 to start her 11 years and three-month prison sentence, which was ordered last November.
THERANOS FOUNDER ELIZABETH HOLMES BOUGHT ONE-WAY TICKET TO MEXICO AFTER CONVICTION
In order to win the appeal, the defense for Holmes argued she should be free during her appeals, but it failed to prove its case.
The prosecution argued Holmes is a flight risk because she booked a one-way plane ticket to Mexico after she was found guilty in January 2023. Holmes's attorneys claimed she booked this flight in hopes of attending a friend's wedding. While Davila declared that Holmes was not a flight risk or a danger to the community, the motion was denied due to a fault of upholding new evidence.
“Certainly, this incident has invited greater scrutiny of Ms. Holmes’s personal affairs and further speculation into her motivations,” Davila wrote in an 11-page ruling. “However, after reviewing the counsels’ contemporary communications and immediate subsequent remediation, the Court accepts Ms. Holmes’s representation that the one-way flight ticket — while ill-advised — was not an attempt to flee the country.”
The coronavirus pandemic delayed Holmes’s trial three times, and her second pregnancy delayed her trial a fourth time.
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Holmes could still file for another appeal on Davila's newest ruling. However, Davila concluded the decision by saying it is unlikely that a reversal of or a new trial for the counts that Holmes was found guilty of would take place.
“Even though Ms. Holmes had presented clear and convincing evidence that she would not flee, the Court does not find that she has raised a ‘substantial question of law or fact’ that is ‘likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial of all counts,'” Davila concluded.