Elizabeth Holmes must start prison term May 30, court rules

Theranos founder and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes has a new date to report to prison.

Holmes will stay free through Memorial Day weekend, then must report to the Bureau of Prisons by 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, according to a ruling from federal judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California. Holmes’ lawyers proposed the new reporting date, asking for two weeks for Holmes to make “medical and child-care arrangements,” court filings show; Davila approved it on Wednesday.

The day before, a federal appeals court denied Holmes’ last-ditch bid to stay out of prison while she appeals her conviction on multiple counts of defrauding investors. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the appeal was unlikely to result in her sentence being overturned.

Also on Tuesday, Judge Davila ruled that Holmes must pay $452 million in restitution to victims of Theranos’ fraud, including a group of investors and former Theranos partners Walgreens and Safeway.

Davila previously recommended that Holmes serve her 11-year sentence at a low-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, that allows for family visitation. Holmes’ lawyers did not disclose the location of the prison she has been assigned, but noted that she has to prepare to travel outside of California, where she currently lives. Holmes, 39, has a 1-year old son and a 3-month old daughter with her partner, Billy Evans.

At Theranos’ peak, the startup that promised to revolutionize blood testing was valued at $9 billion, making Holmes the richest self-made woman in the world, if only on paper. But after a series of articles by the Wall Street Journal revealed the technology didn’t work as promised, the company unraveled.

Holmes’ former partner and ex-Theranos executive Sunny Balwani was also convicted of defrauding investors and sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison. He started serving his sentence in April at FCI Terminal Island prison in San Pedro, California.