Elizabeth Holmes’ 11-year prison sentence shortened by two years
Elizabeth Holmes’ prison sentence was quietly shortened by two years, new records show.
An update to Holmes’ profile on the website of the Bureau of Prisons now projects her release date as 12 December 2032, two years sooner than initially scheduled. A spokesman for the federal agency confirmed the update but said he could not comment further citing “privacy, safety, and security reasons” for inmates.
Holmes had reported to a minimum-security, federal women’s prison camp located in Bryan, Texas, on 30 May after being convicted in November 2022 on four counts of defrauding investors and sentenced to 11 years and three months. Her new date of release means she will instead serve about nine years and seven months.
She had been out on bail since she was indicted on fraud charges in 2018 over her role as the head of the failed blood-testing firm. During that time, she had two children with her partner, Billy Evans.
Inmates in the US can have their sentences reduced for good conduct, including completing job assignments, following orders, and completing substance abuse programs and other rehabilitation courses, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. That gained time can also be revoked or forfeited over disciplinary concerns or other infractions.
The reduction seen by Holmes is in line with federal sentencing guidelines, which states that people convicted of federal offenses must serve 85% of their mandated sentence, even if they get time shaved off for good conduct.
Lawyers for Holmes did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sentencing change comes after her co-conspirator, Sunny Balwani, also saw two years shaved off of his 13-year sentence, with his projected date of release now 1 April 2034, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
Holmes and Balwani were convicted in separate trials for their actions at the head of Theranos, a multibillion-dollar biotech company that collapsed spectacularly after reporting from the Wall Street Journal and others revealed its technology to be largely fraudulent.
Government lawyers for the prosecution teams did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Holmes will also face three years of supervised release after her sentence ends and has been ordered to pay $452m in restitution to victims of the fraud, though a judge has delayed those payments due to her “limited financial resources”.
Lawyers for Holmes have appealed her conviction, and proceedings for that process have been under way while she serves her sentence.
I’m sorry, what now? She stole people’s money, was ordered to pay it back, then was told she didn’t have to pay it back right now because if she did she wouldn’t have any (stolen) money left…? The fuck kinda billshit is that?
wealthy and white is apparently a reduced-jail-sentence card if it can't be an outright get-out-of-jail card.
While I'm concerned about the financial fraud and all, she was running a scam on people's health.
This isn't simply dollars. Not that the scale of her financial scam isn't enough.
Do you have a source about the part of not paying the money back?
She stole money from the rich and stupid. I'm not losing any sleep over it.
Maybe. But she also defrauded innocent customers by offering fake or inaccurate blood tests. Thats the far greater crime.
Before too many people come in saying she needs a longer sentence just a quick reminder; The singular only reason she is serving time at all is because she stole money from other rich assholes. Had she just scammed the poor rubes likes us here as the top class is supposed to do she would probably still be on several boards and gotten press coverage as the "inspirational power woman who bounced back".
She would've had to pay a fine of 10 million and later downgraded to 700k because the company never made money
american politics and justice is such a joke.
If she were a black worker who stole a pack of cigarettes, she would have gotten 30 years in prison.
They would have just murdered her in the streets and called it justice.
Seems like a normal thing, maybe slight preferrential treatment, but even going to prison for a year in her position is going to be humiliating and a real wake up call. I find people throw around numbers of years for offenses saying this should be at least 15 or 20 or whatever. But think about 10 years gone even...like that's a lot of time for someone to lose. So you've gone from media darling and the crazy lifestyle of the rich to prison, and now despite her trying every trick in the book to get out of it, it's just a 9 or 10 years thing to look forward to. So if it should be longer or not at least it's something. I know people have gone to jail for longer for less, but that also shouldn't happen. And then some people should probably just never get out because they are a danger to society and will never be rehabilitated.
Absolutely disgusting. Any facade of justice in the USA is just that, a facade.
She's been in a bit over a month. 42 days.
Should have included the obvious one: being a hot blonde female.
I don't think this is as big of a thing as the news make it out to be. It's literally on par with sentencing guidelines for everyone else.
The real annoying thing is that this kind of crime should be higher on the sentencing guidelines because the victims are far reaching.
Maybe I'm the only one. If so, happy to hear any comment on why you think that the reduction itself is a bad thing :)
But it's not. It's on par with treatment for other people like her. It's not the case for the vast majority of prisoners in the USA.
If your argument is that the sentence should be longer than the one given, how do you also say that you have no issue with it being shortened? Those are opposites.
In general, I'm not. But I'm extremely against unfair application of the reduction to people like her, leaving others to suffer needlessly.
Honestly I'd trade all of her prison time for garnished wages until the people she defrauded are repaid. I don't think the taxpayers should be paying her room and board.
Honestly, Elizabeth Holmes is kind of hot.