People Magazine Interviews Elizabeth Holmes in Prison as Panel of Federal Judges Denies Appeal to Overturn Her Conviction
Holmes says life in prison is ‘Hell’ and that Theranos was a failure but ‘not fraud’
For some reason disgraced Theranos founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes, in a lengthy interview with People magazine, described life in prison while raising her two children even as a three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed her conviction and 11.25-year sentence for fraud.
In June of 2024, Holmes’ defense team appealed to have her conviction overturned due to alleged errors in her trial. According to court documents containing the federal judges’ decisions, her attorneys argued that:
- Former Theranos employees who testified as lay witnesses should not have been allowed to offer improper expert testimony.
- A report prepared by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was irrelevant and may have misled the jury.
- The court abused its discretion by allowing testimony that Theranos voided all patient sample tests run on a device used in Theranos’s clinical laboratory.
- Her rights were violated under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment when she was prohibited from cross-examining a former Theranos laboratory director on aspects of his post-Theranos employment.
- The district court should have admitted portions of deposition testimony given by former Theranos president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In February 2025, the judges rejected all points and denied her appeal. Holmes is serving her sentence in a minimum security federal prison camp in Texas and is currently scheduled to be released in 2032.
Elizabeth Holmes (above) taken backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2014 when Holmes was at the height of her fame and popularity. At this point, Theranos’ Edison blood testing device had not yet been shown to be a fake. But as clinical laboratory scientists and anatomic pathologists studied the technology it was shown to be incapable of producing the results claimed by Holmes and her company president Ramesh Balwani. Today, both are serving lengthy prison sentences for defrauding investors. (Photo copyright: Max Morse/Wikimedia Commons.)
‘Nothing More than a Mirage’
Holmes was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 135 months for her role in the Theranos fraud case. She was also ordered to pay approximately $452 million in restitution due to her offense, which resulted in significant financial losses to various entities and individuals.
Holmes’ one-time romantic partner and former president of Theranos Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani also was convicted of several fraud charges and sentenced to 155 months in prison.
Theranos claimed to have invented a device called Edison that could run a variety of fast, accurate, and affordable clinical laboratory diagnostic tests from a single finger prick of blood. That’s in contrast to traditional testing methods that require veinous blood drawn with a hypodermic needle. The reality, however, was that the Edison device did not work as described to investors.
“The vision sold by Holmes and Balwani was nothing more than mirage,” wrote 9th Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, JD, in the panel’s decision, adding that the “grandiose achievements touted by Holmes and Balwani were half-truths and outright lies.”
The judges continued: “Theranos’s blood-testing device failed to deliver faster and more accurate testing results than conventional technology. Pharmaceutical companies never validated the technology, as Holmes and Balwani had told investors. Contrary to the rosy revenue projections shared with investors and business partners, Theranos was running out of money.”
Life Behind Bars
Holmes told People she has adjusted to prison life, waking up every morning just after 5 AM. Her routine includes daily exercise and working as a reentry clerk. Holmes, who was once touted as having an estimated worth of $4.5 billion, now earns just 31 cents an hour teaching fellow inmates how to prepare resumes and apply for jobs and government benefits.
“So many of these women don’t have anyone, and once they’re in there, they’re forgotten,” she told People.
Holmes also teaches French and participates in cognitive and behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to address past traumas, including the downfall of Theranos, which was once valued at $9 billion.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “People who have never met me believe so strongly about me. They don’t understand who I am. It forces you to spend a lot of time questioning belief and hoping the truth will prevail. I am walking by faith and, ultimately, the truth. But it’s been hell and torture to be here.”
Raising Children from Prison
Holmes’ trial was delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then a fourth time due to a pregnancy. She gave birth to son William a few weeks before her trial began. She later gave birth to daughter Invicta. Both children are being raised by their father Billy Evans, Holmes’ current partner.
Critics allege Holmes only had children to gain sympathy and attempt to avoid prison time. In the People interview, she tried to dispel those claims.
“I know how the optics look, but I always wanted to be a mother,” she said. “I wanted to have children, be a mom. I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty. I kept talking to my lawyers and they also assured me we would never get this far.
“It wasn’t planned, and I can’t worry about what others think,” she added. “It’s just when the timing happened.”
Holmes’ children will be nine and 10 years-old when she’s slated for release in 2032. She continues to maintain her innocence and considers her trial and conviction a miscarriage of justice. She asserts that while Theranos was a flop, “failure is not fraud.”
“First it was about accepting it happened. Then it was about forgiving myself for my own part. [And] I refused to plead guilty to crimes I did not commit,” Holmes said.
Interestingly, Holmes intends to return to the healthcare industry upon her release. “There is not a day I have not continued to work on my research and inventions,” she told People. “I remain completely committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to everyone.”
How she plans to do that given the federal government has banned her for life from operating a clinical laboratory and participating in federal health programs is anyone’s guess.
And thus the life and times saga of Elizabeth Holmes continues.
—JP Schlingman
Related Information:
Elizabeth Holmes Defends Having Two Babies on Her Path to Prison: ‘I Know How the Optics Look’
Who Is Elizabeth Holmes’ Partner? All About Billy Evans
Where Is Elizabeth Holmes Now? All About the Disgraced Tech Founder’s Life in Prison
Feds Bar Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes from Government Health Programs
Elizabeth Holmes’ Conviction Was Upheld: What Are Her Next Steps?
Ex-Theranos Founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes Reduced Her Prison Sentence by Nearly Two Years
Federal Prosecutors Seek $878 Million Restitution from Former Theranos Founder/CEO Elizabeth Holmes
