Convicted Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes must begin serving her 11-year prison term as scheduled later this month after a federal judge rejected her bid to stay free while she appeals.
US District Judge Edward Davila determined that even when Holmes won her appeal difficult the admission of evidence regarding the accuracy of Theranos’ blood-testing machines, it was unlikely to lead to an entire reversal or recent trial in her case.
“Contrary to her suggestion that accuracy and reliability were central issues to her convictions, Ms. Holmes’ misrepresentations to Theranos investors involved greater than just whether Theranos technology ‘work[ed] as promised.’” Davila wrote.
Davila’s ruling capped a lengthy dispute between the feds and Holmes’ legal team, which had argued she should remain free because her appeal would raise “substantial issues” about her conviction that would lead to a recent trial.
Last 12 months, Holmes was sentenced to greater than 11 years in prison for lying to Theranos’ investors in regards to the efficacy of her once-booming startup’s blood-testing technology and funds. The mother of two is slated to report back to prison on April 27.
In his ruling, Davila also weighed in on a bombshell allegation from prosecutors alleging that Holmes was a flight risk because she and her partner, William Evans, had booked a one-way trip to Mexico weeks before the jury reached a verdict in her case.
“Booking international travel plans for a criminal defendant in anticipation of an entire defense victory is a daring move, and the failure to promptly cancel those plans after a guilty verdict is a perilously careless oversight,” the judge said within the filing.
In a January court filing, the feds described the trip as an “try and flee the country” and alleged that Holmes only nixed the plan after contact with prosecutors.
Holmes’ team pushed back, describing the claim as “baseless” and asking Davila to strike it from records. They said Holmes and Evans had booked the trip to attend a friend’s wedding.
Davila said he determined that Holmes’ purchase of the one-way ticket, “while ill-advised,” was not an try and flee the country,” because the prosecution had argued.
“Ms. Holmes has presented evidence that she made no try and flee, the court retains custody of her expired passport, her appearance is secured by a $500,000 bond on her parents’ home, and she or he has strong ties to the community, including two very young children,” Davila added.
As The Post reported, Holmes’ lawyers had cited the recent birth of her second child as evidence that she was not a flight risk. Holmes had been visibly pregnant during a failed earlier bid to throw out her conviction last 12 months.
Holmes’ stunning fall from grace occurred after reports revealed that Theranos’ machines couldn’t perform lots of the functions that she claimed. At one point, the medical tech startup drew a whopping $9 billion valuation.
