Entrepreneur behind Theranos scandal urges Trump for early prison release
Entrepreneur behind Theranos scandal urges Trump for early prison release
Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, has requested an early release from her prison sentence.
The request was made to President Donald Trump last year and is still pending review by the US Department of Justice.
Holmes was convicted in 2022 for defrauding investors in her blood-testing start-up and sentenced to over 11 years in prison.
She began serving her term at a federal prison in Texas in 2023.
Holmes's conviction and ongoing legal battles
In 2022, a US appeals court upheld the convictions of Holmes and Theranos President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani.
The court also upheld a $452 million restitution order against them for defrauding investors.
Despite her conviction, Holmes has continued to fight her case in the courts.
Theranos's rise and fall
Holmes founded Theranos as a college student, promising to revolutionize the healthcare industry with its technology.
The company claimed it could test for diseases like cancer and diabetes with just a few drops of blood.
Despite attracting $945 million in funding and a board of high-profile political figures, Theranos' testing methods were questioned by a Wall Street Journal investigation.
Holmes's current status and online activity
Holmes, 41, is currently serving her sentence at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, a minimum-security federal prison camp about 161km from Houston.
Recently, she has been in the news after posts started appearing on her X account again. One such post praised Trump's efforts toward affordable healthcare.
The account also shares updates about Holmes's family and her life in prison.
Trump's clemency history and Holmes's request
Trump has granted clemency to over 1,600 people since his second term began, mostly for their roles in the January 6 Capitol riots. In his first term, he issued just 237 pardons and commutations.
Holmes's request for sentence commutation is still pending with the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney.