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She was also sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.
Elizabeth Holmes, the former head of collapsed blood-testing company Theranos, has asked for presidential intervention as she continues serving a lengthy federal prison sentence, Reuters reports, citing U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Holmes’ request comes despite her conviction being upheld and her release date still several years away.
Clemency request pending
According to Reuters, Holmes, now 41, has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to commute her prison sentence.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney told Reuters, that the application remains under review.
She was sentenced in 2022 to more than 11 years in prison after a jury convicted her on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy related to misleading investors.
She was also ordered to pay $452 million in restitution.
Fraud case upheld
A federal appeals court upheld Holmes’ conviction and sentence in February last year, reinforcing prosecutors’ claims that she misrepresented Theranos’ technology.
According to prosecutors, Holmes falsely told investors between 2010 and 2015 that the company could run numerous medical tests using just a finger-prick of blood.
The Theranos Scam
Theranos was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes, who dropped out of Stanford University with the goal of revolutionizing medical testing. The startup claimed it could run dozens of laboratory tests using just a few drops of blood from a finger prick, promising faster, cheaper diagnostics.
The company attracted prominent investors, former government officials to its board, and major retail partnerships, including with Walgreens. By 2014, Theranos was valued at about $9 billion, and Holmes was widely celebrated as a Silicon Valley success story.
Doubts emerged in 2015 after investigative reporting revealed the technology did not work as claimed and that most tests were performed on conventional machines. Regulatory inspections followed, partnerships collapsed, and Theranos shut down in 2018.
Holmes and former president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were charged with fraud. In 2022, Holmes was convicted of wire fraud for misleading investors, marking the downfall of one of tech’s most high-profile startups.
Forbes estimated Holmes’ net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015 before the company unraveled.
Holmes is held at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, and is reportedly eligible for release in December 2031. Commutation would not erase her restitution obligation, though a pardon would.
The White House declined Reuters request for a comment, and Holmes’ lawyers did not respond.
Sources: Reuters, U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney, EQS Integrity Line, CNN. BBC, Forbes
