Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes expected to begin 11-year sentence

theguardian.com:

The Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is poised to turn herself in for an 11-year prison sentence Tuesday, marking a final chapter in a years-long fraud saga that riveted Silicon Valley.

The 39-year-old tech founder has been ordered to report to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Texas no later than 2pm Tuesday, according to a previous court filing.

Holmes had been out on bail since she was indicted on fraud charges in 2018 over her role as the head of the failed blood-testing firm. She was convicted in November 2022 on four counts of defrauding investors and sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison.

Under federal law, Holmes is required to serve 85% of the time, even if her sentence is reduced for good conduct. Federal prison camp Bryan, where Holmes has been ordered to serve her sentence, houses primarily white-collar and non-violent female federal incarcerees, and lacks the fencing and strict rules of higher-security prisons. It is a work-focused program that requires all inmates to hold a job for a minimum of 90 days.

Holmes had attempted to delay serving her sentence, arguing that she should be able to remain out of custody while she seeks a new trial based on alleged wrongdoing by the the prosecution. The US district judge Edward Davila denied those requests, stating that a new trial or an overturning of the guilty verdict was unlikely.

Holmes reportedly spent her final days of freedom with her partner, Billy Evans, and their two children. Her trial was originally delayed as she gave birth to her first child in July 2021 and she appeared at her sentencing hearing in November pregnant with her second child, who was born in March.

Sunny Balwani, Holmes’ former business and romantic partner, was convicted on