Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes again delays start of 11-year prison term

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has again delayed the start of her 11-year prison sentence for fraud charges, after appealing a previous decision that would have required her to turn herself in on 27 April.

Holmes, 39, was expected to serve her time in at a minimum-security prison camp in Houston, Texas. The appeal automatically delays her reporting date, and she will now remain out of prison until a court of appeals rules on her request.

The disgraced entrepreneur was convicted in January 2022 on four counts of fraud over her role in misleading investors as head of the failed blood-testing firm. Citing her two small children, lawyers for Holmes said she was unlikely to pose a flight risk and should be allowed to remain free while the appeals process continues. Davila had ruled against a delay in prison time, stating that a new trial or an overturning of the guilty verdict was unlikely.

Holmes filed her appeal in September and is seeking a new trial based on alleged wrongdoing from the prosecution, as well as a key government witness who expressed regret for his testimony and its role in her conviction. The witness, former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff later confirmed he stood by his testimony.

Holmes has had two children since she was indicted in 2018. Throughout the trial and as she awaited the deadline to turn herself in this week, Holmes has lived with her partner and the father of her children, hotel heir Billy Evans, in a $135m estate in Silicon Valley.

Her former business and romantic partner Sunny Balwani employed a similar strategy to avoid his own prison sentence, delaying his start date for a month while an appeal was considered.

His appeal was denied and he began his sentence on similar counts of fraud last week. Balwani, who was convicted on all 12 counts he was charged with, will serve 13 years.

The company promised a revolutionary new technology that could run hundreds of health tests on just a drop of blood, and was once valued at more than $9bn as it attracted big-name backers like former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Holmes was ultimately convicted on four counts of defrauding investors, in a dramatic trial that included testimony from some of the high-profile backers, including former defense secretary James Mattis.

The Associated Press contributed reporting