Elizabeth Holmes puts off starting prison sentence yet again

The former Theranos CEO has filed another appeal of her conviction

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes may have again stalled the date by which she must report to prison by filing another appeal of her fraud conviction.

Holmes was convicted by a federal jury of defrauding Theranos investors last year and was sentenced in November to just more than 11 years in prison.

Holmes’s attorneys asked that she be allowed to remain free on bail while she appeals her conviction, but a judge declined that request and ordered her to report to prison on April 27.

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes alongside her boyfriend Billy Evans, walks back to her hotel following a hearing at the Robert E Peckham US Courthouse on 17 March, 2023 in San Jose, California. (Getty Images)

Now, though, it seems the disgraced tech star might not have to begin her prison sentence until June at the earliest.

On Monday, her attorney filed a new motion of appeal of her conviction — after which Holmes was granted an immediate stay of her prison-report date, according to NBC Bay Area.

The state has 21 days to respond to the appeal, after which Holmes’s defence team will have a further three weeks to file a final motion. After the final motion is filed, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider her legal fate.

The appeal filed this week is considered a longshot, but while that process is ongoing it is believed that Ms Holmes will remain free unless a judge orders her to report to prison.

Holmes was back in the news last week after The New York Times published a long-form profile of her that was panned by a number of readers for its tone and credulity.

Some critics, including the poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib, noted that Black people convicted of felonies are rarely given the same space to pitch their reformations to the media that the profile gave Holmes.

Much of the article focused in part on Holmes as a mother. The former CEO gave birth to her first child in 2021 and her second child sometime around the beginning of 2023.

Holmes’s former romantic partner and business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was sentenced to just under 13 years in prison on conspiracy and fraud counts for his role in the Theranos situation. He began serving his prison sentence last month.