Six months after former biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, 39, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, she entered the prison camp in Bryan, Texas on May 30, 2023 to begin serving her time. Wearing a beige sweatshirt and blue jeans, Holmes looked unfazed as she made her way inside; she even at one point was photographed smiling as she made her way into the Federal Prison Camp.
The Theranos founder‘s prison entrance took place about two weeks after she was ordered to begin her date by federal judge Edward Davila, per CBS News. On May 17, he ruled that the disgraced 39-year-old would enter prison after the Memorial Day holiday following her request to extend the start date of her sentence. The day prior, she appealed to stay out of prison while she attempts to overturn her conviction, however, that was rejected.
Knowing she would be gone for quite some time, it’s no surprise that she was spotted a few days earlier, enjoying her time with her young children in San Diego, over the long weekend, Holmes was photographed spending quality time with her partner, Billy Evans. and kids, Invicta and William, over Memorial Day weekend at the beach.
Elizabeth was originally set to start her prison date sooner, however, she requested a later start date to make “medical and child-care arrangements,” according to the outlet. The judge approved her request on May 17. She is a mother to two children, 1 and 3 mos., which she welcomed with her husband. The same day that Davila denied her request to stay out of jail, he ordered Elizabeth to pay a total of $452 million in restitution to the victims of Theranos’ fraud.
Some of the victims include Walgreens and Safeway, which Theranos famously partnered with years prior to her sentencing. According to a Mar. 2022 article in Women’s Health, Walgreens invested $50 million into Elizabeth’s company before eventually backing out of the deal. The judge did not reveal the location of the prison at the time of setting the official start date, however, it was reported that Elizabeth would be sentenced to a “low-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas.”
The Washington D.C. native will be allowed to have family visitation, however, she is expected to have to “travel outside of California,” at this time, per CBS News. Elizabeth’s former business partner and boyfriend, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, 57, began serving his nearly 13-year prison sentence in Apr. 2023. Sunny was convicted of defrauding investors, similarly to his ex. Elizabeth, for her part, was convicted of “defrauding investors in Theranos, Inc. of hundreds of millions of dollars,” per the U.S. Northern District of California Attorney’s Office.
In addition to serving 11 years and three months in prison, Elizabeth was also sentenced to “three years of supervision” following her release from prison in what would be 2034. She was originally ordered to surrender Apr. 27, 2023, however as mentioned above, she was able to push it back a few weeks. Two months after she was convicted in 2022, Hulu released a scripted drama series titled, The Dropout, based on Elizabeth’s time at Theranos starring Amanda Seyfried. The series became an instant hit following its Mar. 3, 2022 release.