A judge this week denied disgraced CEO Elizabeth Holmes’ request to stay free while she appeals her conviction on fraud charges.
Judge Edward Davila doubted the chances of Holmes’ appeal, saying that it is very unlikely that an appeal would overturn her convictions. He ordered Holmes to turn herself in on April 27.
Holmes was sentenced to a little more than 11 years in prison last November after being convicted on multiple charges of fraud while running the blood-testing start-up Theranos.
Ramesh Balwani, Theranos’ former COO and Holmes’ ex-boyfriend, also was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted on multiple charges of fraud.
He is expected to turn himself in on April 20.
Holmes started Theranos at age 19 and soon became extremely popular in the media and with several high-profile investors.
Once one of the most popular and valuable companies in Silicon Valley, valued at $9 billion at its peak, the ambitious startup began to disintegrate after a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation revealed the company had only sparsely used its proprietary technology while publicly stating otherwise.
A year later, Theranos voided two years worth of blood test results, casting serious doubt on the company’s technology and creating serious customer backlash.
Not long after, in 2018, Theranos dissolved after settling fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Holmes was indicted by a federal grand jury the same year.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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