California Federal Judge Denies Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Release Pending Appeal

As a result of the ruling, the woman once declared the youngest and wealthiest self-made billionaire by Forbes loses her last chance to avoid incarceration for her massive fraud. Her company Theranos claimed to have revolutionized blood testing, through a patented so-called nanotainer that only required a pinprick to function. The invention never worked, but Holmes persuaded patients and investors that it did, netting her company a $9 billion valuation at its height.

In July 2018, a grand jury indicted Holmes and her former chief operating officer and ex-boyfriend Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, charging that it was all a massive fraud. Both now stand convicted.

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Attorneys for Holmes argued that their client should be able to wait out her appeals as a free woman. To prevail, they had to prove that Holmes was not a risk of flight or a danger to the community — and she had a substantial appeal ahead of her.

Prosecutors opposed release, revealing that they discovered Holmes had booked a one-way ticket to Mexico in January 2023, just weeks after her convictions.

“Only after the government raised this unauthorized flight with defense counsel was the trip canceled,” prosecutors added.

Holmes’s attorneys chalked it up to a misunderstanding, claiming that their client wanted to attend a close friend’s wedding south of the border. The Theranos founder hoped and expected she would have been acquitted by then.

“Given the verdict, she does not plan to take the trip — and therefore did not provide notice, seek permission or request access to her passport (which the government has) for the trip,” her attorney Lance Wade said.