Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, arrives at federal court in San Jose, California, March 17, 2023.
Benjamin Fanjoy | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Elizabeth Holmes, the jailed Silicon Valley CEO, shaved additional months off her initial 11-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy, and is scheduled to be released two years earlier than expected, federal records show.
Holmes, 40, is scheduled to be released on Aug. 16, 2032, from a federal prison for women in Bryan, Texas, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Last July, its expected release date was set as December 29, 2032.
The disgraced founder of failed blood testing startup Theranos went to prison in May 2023 after being sentenced to 135 months in prison for defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
While the Bureau of Prisons declined to comment specifically on Holmes' status for privacy and security reasons, the agency said in a statement that “anticipated release dates are calculated taking several factors into account.” A qualifier can earn up to 54 days for each year of the sentence imposed by the court. Additionally, inmates can see more time removed from their sentences by earning time credits that accumulate when they complete certain prison and work programs, part of the federal government's way of reducing recidivism and thinning the prison population.
Time credits are awarded over a 30-day period for programs related to anger management, mental health, financial literacy and other topics that seek to address behavior and instill interpersonal skills. Once the credits are calculated and it is determined that those credits equal the time remaining on the sentence, the inmate can be transferred from the prison to “pre-release custody,” such as a halfway house or home confinement. Some may also be eligible for supervised release such as probation.
Supporters of the Trump-era law say they believe it could reduce particularly harsh sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and reduce racial disparities affecting people of color in the criminal justice system, though the calculation of time credits has come under scrutiny in recent years.
Holmes is being held at FPC Bryan, a minimum security prison camp where former “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jane Shah is serving a federal wire fraud sentence for telemarketing fraud.
Holmes' attorney did not respond to a request for comment on her prison sentence.
Along with Holmes, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Theranos' chief operating officer, was also convicted in a separate trial for his role in the Theranos scam, and was sentenced in December 2022 to nearly 13 years in prison.
He is currently scheduled to be released on November 22, 2032 from a federal prison in Southern California, which would be two years earlier than expected. His lawyer refused to comment on his prison term.
Meanwhile, the federal appeals court in San Francisco is scheduled to hear oral arguments for Holmes' appeal on June 11. The appeal will address “convictions, sentences and restitution orders” related to the case, according to the court's calendar. Balwani's appeal case is also supposed to be heard at that time.
After giving birth to her second child in early 2023, Holmes attempted to remain free on bail while appealing her conviction, but the judge rejected that request.
Theranos, which said its technology could provide users with health data by testing blood through a single finger prick, became a symbol of startups that lured investors with false promises in the early 2000s. Holmes' rise as a Stanford dropout-turned-Silicon Valley student has been the subject of investigative reports and a television series that sought to scrutinize her backstory.
