Disgraced biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes has arrived at a federal prison in Texas to begin her 11-year, three-month sentence for defrauding investors of her defunct blood-testing startup, Theranos.
Press and photographers stationed outside the women's prison camp in Bryan, Texas, captured what appeared to be Holmes exiting a gray SUV with New York state plates and making her way into the facility flanked by facility staff at around 12:30 pm local time. Shortly afterward, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to the Associated Press that Holmes was indeed in custody at the facility, FPC Bryan, which is about 100 miles northwest of Houston.
The facility houses about 655 female inmates who are required to work in the cafeteria or a manufacturing facility, with pay starting at $1.15 per hour, according to The New York Times. Like other inmates, Holmes will don prison-issued khaki pants and shirts in pastel green, gray, or white during her stay. She will have no Internet access but can buy a radio or an MP3 player from the prison commissary and listen to "non-explicit" music. When she's not working or listening to prison-approved music, she can partake in leisure activities such as "table games" and arts and crafts.
In January 2022, Holmes was convicted on four counts of defrauding Theranos investors for falsely claiming that her propriety blood-testing device could run hundreds of tests with just a small drop of blood. In truth, the device never actually worked. Last November, the judge in her case, US District Judge Edward Davila, sentenced her to 11 years and three months in prison—a hefty term meant to send a message to Silicon Valley about the dangers of hubris and the "fake it till you make it" ethos.
Holmes is appealing her conviction, but the prospects of overturning it appear dim. She also requested to remain free on bail during the appeal process, a request denied by both Davila and a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where she is appealing her conviction. On May 17, Davila ordered Holmes to report to prison today, May 30, no later than 2 pm.
Davila also ordered Holmes, along with her ex-boyfriend and former Theranos President, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, to pay $452 million in restitution to defrauded investors. The two, who were tried separately, are jointly responsible for paying back the sum. Balwani, who was convicted on 12 counts of defrauding investors, patients, and doctors, has already begun his nearly 13-year prison sentence.
Reporting to prison today, Holmes leaves behind two small children and their father, her new partner, Billy Evans. The couple reportedly have a boy, William, born in July 2021 and a three-month old daughter named Invicta, which is Latin for "invincible."
Holmes' children can visit their mother in person on weekends and federal holidays. Holmes is allowed to hold them in her lap. They are also allowed phone and video calls, but calls are limited to 15 minutes each with a total of 300 minutes per month.
The Times notes that three women escaped FPC Bryan in 2017, one of whom has not been found.