Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes reports to prison in Texas
Elizabeth Holmes turned herself in at a federal prison in Texas on Tuesday to begin her 11-year and 3-month sentence — and flashed a smile as she was hauled away by a pair of guards.
In a video tweeted by Ben Peck, the 39-year-old Silicon Valley fraudster appeared to get out of a Ford Expedition before being escorted into the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, also known as FPC Bryan.
She was seen in jeans, a tan pullover sweater and white sneakers while donning a makeup-free face with glasses and tousled hair.
She appeared to be carrying a piece of paper and clear plastic baggie.
Holmes was walking between a male and female officer, who she was even photographed smiling at amid her stroll into the minimum-security women’s prison.
Her look is a far cry from the buttoned-up black turtleneck, red lipstick and low bun she became infamous for while building Theranos into a $9 billion company at its peak.
Holmes was convicted for falsely claiming that her startup blood lab, Theranos, could diagnose a slew of conditions with just a single drop of blood.
Before Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou revealed Theranos’ false claims in a multi-part exposé, Holmes herself had a net worth of $4.5 billion at just 30 years old, according to Forbes.
Who is Elizabeth Holmes and why is she going to jail?
Elizabeth Holmes is the founder and former CEO of Theranos — and a convicted fraudster.
In 2018, Holmes, along with Theranos’ former president Ramesh Balwani, encouraged doctors and patients to use the company’s blood testing services when they knew Theranos was incapable of consistently producing accurate and reliable results, according to the indictment.
The Securities and Exchange Commission pressed fraud charges against Holmes in March 2018, accusing Holmes of defrauding investors of more than $700 million through made-up claims.
Theranos and 34-year-old Holmes ran “an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business and financial performance,” according to the SEC.
In January 2022, the mother-of-two was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and three counts of committing fraud to individual investors, totaling more than $140 million.
Holmes reported to the women’s prison camp FPC Bryan in Texas on Tuesday to begin her 11-year sentence after attempting to overturn her conviction.
Holmes was ordered to report to the prison on May 30 by US District Judge Edward Davila after her plea to remain free while appealing her conviction was thrown out by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As of tonight, the mother of two will share a bunk bed in her prison cell with at least three other women.
She will live among other famous inmates, including reality TV star Jen Shah and Jenna Ryan, who was convicted for participating in the Jan. 6 riots at the US Capitol.
Shah, meanwhile, starred on “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” and began her six-year sentence at the prison this year after being convicted for taking part in a telemarketing fraud scheme.
The prison camp can hold about 720 inmates, and most are serving time for white-collar crimes and low-level drug offenses, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Inmates live in one of four housing units, where cells open at 6 a.m. Inmates must then return to their dormitories for a head count at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Cells then close for the night at 8 p.m.
Holmes’ family can visit her on weekends and holidays, as stated on the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website.
Children under 10 may sit on their parent’s lap when visiting, and women are allowed to breast feed babies during their visit.
Handshakes, hugs and kisses are allowed at the beginning and end of each visit. Inmates are permitted at least four hours of visiting time per month, the site says.
Davila recommended Holmes see out her 135-month punishment in FPC Bryan as its located 100 miles outside of Houston, where Holmes grew up aspiring to be a billionaire, and some of her family members still reportedly reside.
Holmes’ husband, 1-year-old son and three-month-old daughter, however, live in a $13,000-per-month, 74-acre estate located in Woodside, Calif.
The disgraced Theranos CEO has reportedly been living on the estate on bail since she was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and three counts of committing fraud on individual investors — totaling more than $140 million — in January 2022.
In another ruling, Davila ordered Holmes and her ex-boyfriend and former Theranos COO, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, to pay $452 million in restitution to the investors who bought into Holmes’ claims of a revolutionary diagnostic tool using a finger prick.
However, Holmes is being held jointly liable for the lump sum, as Balwani is already in prison after being convicted on a broader range of felonies in a separate trial.
Holmes’ 57-year-old former sidekick was sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison on charges of defrauding investors and patients of the blood testing startup led by Holmes.
