Judge rules Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes jailed during appeal

A federal judge ruled Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes must serve time in jail while she pursues an appeal on her conviction, adding that she did not introduce new evidence to make overturning the guilty verdict or warranting a new trial likely. 

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila ruled on Monday that Holmes demonstrated that she is not a danger to the community nor would she be a flight-risk if she was able to be free while appealing her conviction from last year. But, he found that Holmes also did not raise a “substantial question of law or fact” that is “likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial on all counts.” 

A jury found Holmes guilty on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in January 2022. Prosecutors in the case said she misled investors about the success of her blood-testing technology from her company Theranos. 

She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison in November for her conviction, and she filed an appeal in December. The court has scheduled Holmes to surrender herself to begin her sentence on April 27 at 2 p.m. 

Holmes had claimed that the test only needed as little as a drop of blood to test for a wide range of conditions. 

Davila noted in his ruling denying Holmes’ request for release that her false claims went beyond the abilities of the technology and included the company’s financial status, its reliance on third-party devices and its validation from pharmaceutical companies. 

Former top Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was at one time in a relationship with Holmes, was also convicted on 12 felony counts of defrauding investors and patients in July and was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison. 

He lost his attempt to remain free while pursuing an appeal last week and was ordered to report to prison on April 20.