Elizabeth Holmes’ Appeal Takes Hit; Theranos Founder Headed to Jail

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will have to go to jail sometime this month after a judge denied her appeal to remain free. However, she still has an appeal for her conviction going on, but she will still have to wait it out in jail as she must report in by April 27.

Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California has stated in his ruling that while the disgraced Theranos founder does not pose a danger to the community and is not a flight risk, he has doubts about her appeal, adding that it was unlikely to result in a reversal or have an order for a new trial. This is for all the counts she was found guilty of, according to the judge.

"Even though Ms. Holmes had presented clear and convincing evidence that she would not flee, the court does not find that she has raised a 'substantial question of law or fact' that is 'likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial of all counts,'" wrote the judge in his opinion.

Last November, Holmes was sentenced to over 11 years of prison. She was previously convicted on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running the failed blood-testing startup Theranos a few months earlier, according to CNN.

She was found guilty alongside her former boyfriend and Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison. Much like Holmes, Belwani's request to stay out of prison was also denied. However, he must present himself to jail a little bit earlier than his ex, as he must surrender on April 20.

Elizabeth Holmes Booked a One-Way Ticket to Mexico Before Ruling

Despite the judge ruling that she was not a flight risk, there was evidence that Holmes was trying to flee the country before she had to go to prison, according to Business Insider.

In January, prosecutors found that Holmes had bought a one-way flight to Mexico, and this flight was set to leave just three weeks after she was convicted.

However, Judge Edward Davila ruled that this wasn't an attempt to flee but was only "ill-advised." He added in his ruling that the flight booking led to more scrutiny and speculation into Holmes' personal affairs and motivations.

Who Is Elizabeth Holmes and Why Was Theranos so Controversial?

Theranos was supposed to be a revolutionary new piece of technology that would revolutionize blood testing. Elizabeth Holmes, once thought of as a trailblazing young visionary, started it at the age of 19 after dropping out of Stanford University.

The Wall Street Journal released an expose about Holmes and her company and it showed that Theranos' "finger stick" blood tests were not able to produce the hundreds of tests it promised. The company completely shut down in 2016 thanks to regulatory pressure after the WSJ expose came out, according to Yahoo! Finance.

As for Holmes, she was indicted in 2018 after the company went down in flames. Before this, however, she was once considered a genius and a savvy young businesswoman with a bright future ahead of her.

This was mainly because she once became the wealthiest self-made female billionaire thanks to the extremely high values of Theranos' stock prices. It became this way because it promised to revolutionize the medical industry. However, this changed when it was revealed that it was all a fraud.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Why Elizabeth Holmes Was Convicted (and Also Acquitted) - LegalEagle