Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' prison sentence shortened by 2 years
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the blood-testing lab Theranos, appears to have had her prison sentence shortened by roughly two years, according to federal records.
Holmes, 39, reported to a federal prison in Bryan, Texas on May 30 to begin serving an 11-year and 3-month sentence for her role in wire fraud at the now-defunct company.
An update to her inmate details on the website of the Bureau of Prisons listed her expected release date as Dec. 29, 2032. That means she would be released roughly two years ahead of schedule.
A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Holmes had a projected release date of Dec. 29, 2032.
They said they could not provide further comment due to "privacy, safety, and security reasons." However, they noted every inmate can earn good conduct time, which is "projected in their projected release date," while some inmates can be eligible for early release through other mechanisms.
The projected release date appeared to line up with the BOP's "good time chart," which outlines how much good time credit an inmate can earn, depending on their sentence.
Find the number of months the inmate has actually served (or will serve by January 20, 2017 when President Obama leaves office) in the far right column. Go across to the far left column to find the number of months the inmate has served (or will serve) including good time credit, assuming the inmate has earned (and will earn) all of his good time credit. The Good Time Chart is a BOP document that was included in a previous edition of Defending a Federal Criminal Case, published by Federal Defenders of San Diego.
Holmes was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud in January 2022.
Nearly 20 years prior in 2003, she had dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to launch Theranos, a company that sought to diagnose a range of medical conditions with just a pinprick of blood.
Theranos swiftly rose to prominence, becoming a darling of Silicon Valley and at one point being valued at more than $9 billion. The company also attracted investments from high-profile moguls, including Rupert Murdoch, the Walton family (heirs to the Walmart fortune) and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Its board of directors would grow to include former secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger; two former U.S. senators; and former Defense Secretary James Mattis.
However, Theranos' claims about what it could do began to crumble under reports that its technology did not work as claimed and could deliver faulty results.
By March 2018, Holmes was charged along with Theranos Chief Operating Officer Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani by the Securities and Exchange Commission with securities fraud.
In the fall 2022, both Holmes and Balwani, who was also convicted, were sentenced. Experts said Balwani received a harsher sentence — nearly 13 years in prison — because of his experience running other businesses.
