A US judge has denied Elizabeth Holmes' request to remain free while she appeals her wire fraud conviction. The Theranos founder, who recently gave birth, is to begin serving an 11-year sentence in roughly two weeks. Convicted in January 2022, she argued she should remain out of prison while her appeal works its way through the court. Such a request may be granted if a defendant is not considered a flight risk or a threat to the community and their appeal "raises a substantial question of facts or law," NPR reports. A federal judge in California agreed Holmes is unlikely to flee or endanger the community, but said even a successful appeal would not overturn all her fraud convictions, per Bloomberg.
Holmes is challenging US District Judge Edward Davila's decision to allow evidence challenging the accuracy and reliability of Theranos' blood-testing technology. But "Ms. Holmes's misrepresentations to Theranos investors involved more than just whether Theranos technology worked as promised," wrote the judge, per Reuters. "Ms. Holmes had also made several misrepresentations ... such as those regarding the company's financial status, reliance on third-party and commercially available devices, partnership with Walgreens, and validation by pharmaceutical companies," he added, per NPR.
Legal experts said it was "a long shot" request as the appeal could take two years, per Bloomberg. Reuters notes Davila also denied a similar request from Holmes' co-defendant, former Theranos President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who is appealing a sentence of almost 13 years. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing both fraud convictions, also denied Balwani's request, meaning he will report to a prison in San Pedro, California, on April 20, per the AP. Per Bloomberg, the 39-year-old Holmes is "expected to make one final request for bail from the San Francisco-based federal appeals court." If her request is denied, she is to report to a federal prison on April 27. (More Elizabeth Holmes stories.)
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