The imprisonment of former Theranos chief executive Elizabeth Holmes has been automatically delayed after she appealed a lower court’s decision to deny her release while she appeals her original fraud conviction.
The suspension of Holmes’ prison sentence by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals came after Holmes sought to overturn District Court Judge Edward Davila’s April 11 decision to deny his request for release.
Holmes, who received an 11-year sentence, was due to report Thursday at a minimum-security prison near Houston.
In a filing filed Tuesday night, Holmes’s attorneys say Davila’s decision to deny his release contained «numerous inexplicable errors,» including references to «patient fraud convictions,» despite the jury acquitting Holmes of those charges.
Holmes was convicted in January 2022 on four counts of wire fraud. In November, she was sentenced to more than 11 years in a federal penitentiary.
While Tuesday’s motion keeps Holmes out of jail for now, it may only be a brief respite. Holmes’ mentor and ex-boyfriend, Ramesh «Sunny» Balwani, convicted in a separate trial last year, he also sought to remain free pending his appeal, appealing to the Ninth Circuit when Dávila denied his motion.
But the appeals court rejected his request. Balwani, 57, reported last week to a low-security federal prison in Los Angeles to begin serving his nearly 13-year sentence.
The government has until May 3 to respond to Holmes’ latest motion.