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Elizabeth Holmesis not avoiding prison as she appeals her fraud conviction, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
After being convicted of fraud for deceiving investors, the 39-year-old Theranos founderwas sentenced to 11 years in prison. She is expected toturn herself in to federal authoritieson April 27.
She laterasked a judge to let her stay out of prisonwhile she fights the conviction.
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila rejected Holmes' request, according toThe Washington Post,ABC News, andThe Wall Street Journal.
Davila wrote in his decision, perThe Washington Post,that Holmes isn’t a flight risk or danger to the community; however, the court could not “find that she has raised a ‘substantial question of law or fact’ that if ‘determined favorably to [her] on appeal’” would reverse her conviction or get her a new trial.
The ruling comes after he also denied a petition from Holmes' ex and Theranos President COO Sunny Balwani. He wassentenced to 13 yearsafter he wasfound guilty on all 12 fraud chargesagainst him.
Balwani was originally scheduled to begin his sentence in mid-March, butdid not surrender to authoritiesbecause he was appealing his conviction. Still, his appeal has since been denied, so he will begin his sentence at Terminal Island prison in California on April 20, ABC News reported.
Just after her conviction in January, Holmes was accused of buying a one-way ticket to Mexico in analleged effort to flee the country.
Prosecutors stated in court documents at the time that she should go to prison right away becauseshe is a flight riskand made “an attempt to flee the country” last year, per multiple outlets.
“The government became aware on January 23, 2022, that Defendant Holmes booked an international flight to Mexico departing on January 26, 2022, without a scheduled return trip,” prosecutors allege in the filing. “Only after the government raised this unauthorized flight with defense counsel was the trip canceled.”
RELATED VIDEO: Elizabeth Holmes' Ex-Boyfriend Sunny Balwani Sentenced to 13 Years for Theranos Fraud
Prosecutors said in court documents they expected Holmes to “reply that she did not in fact leave the country as scheduled”, however, they added “it is difficult to know with certainty” if she would have left without the government stepping in.
Prosecutors said that “the incentive to flee has never been higher” and she “has the means to act on that incentive.”
Holmes' lawyers alleged in an email that she booked the flight before her conviction and planned to attend a friend’s wedding in Mexico if she wasn’t found guilty.
For now, Holmes resides in a $13,000 per month estate.
Ahead of her sentence, Holmesgave birth to her second child, according to a federal court document. It’s unclear when exactly the birth occurred.
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Holmes was tried on 11 counts of fraud for claims made to investors and patients of her Silicon Valley company. The jury found Holmes guilty of four of the charges — three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Holmes was found not guilty of an additional four counts. The jury remained deadlocked on the other three charges, according toThe New York Times.
Her scandal was the subject ofan HBO documentaryas well asa Hulu miniseriesstarringAmanda Seyfried.
source: people.com
