SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk and shouldn’t be allowed to remain out of prison while she appeals her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors, federal prosecutors said in court documents.
Holmes, who was CEO of Theranos throughout the company’s turbulent 15-year history, was convicted in a scheme that revolved around the corporate’s claims to have developed a medical device that would detect a large number of diseases and conditions from a number of drops of blood. However the technology never worked, and the claims were false.
Holmes booked the 2022 flight and not using a scheduled return trip and only canceled it after prosecutors contacted Holmes’ attorneys in regards to the “unauthorized flight,” prosecutors said.
Holmes’ attorneys didn’t immediately respond Friday to email and phone messages from The Associated Press. In a Jan. 23, 2022, email responding to prosecutors’ concerns in regards to the planned trip, they said Holmes had booked it before the jury’s verdict to attend a marriage in Mexico.
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“Given the decision, she doesn’t plan to take the trip and subsequently didn’t provide notice, seek permission, or request access to her passport (which the federal government has) for the trip,” wrote Lance Wade, certainly one of Holmes’ attorneys.
Prosecutors didn’t protest Davila’s decision to provide Holmes five months of freedom or bring up the incontrovertible fact that they considered her a flight risk.
Holmes is scheduled to return to court on March 17 for a hearing on her request to remain out of prison while she appeals her conviction.
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