Prosecutors: Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk, booked

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk and should not be allowed to remain behind bars while she appeals her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors, federal prosecutors said in court documents.

Holmes was booked on a one-way plane ticket to Mexico for January 26, 2022, for three weeks after being convicted by a jury on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracyFederal prosecutors said in a motion filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California.

Holmes, who was CEO of Theranos during the company’s tumultuous 15-year history, was convicted in a scheme that revolved around the company’s claims of developing a medical device that could detect a variety of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood. But the technology never worked and the claims were false.

Holmes booked a flight for 2022 with no scheduled return trip and only canceled after prosecutors contacted Holmes’ attorneys about the “unauthorized flight,” prosecutors said.

Holmes’ attorneys did not immediately respond Friday to email and phone messages from The Associated Press. In an email dated Jan. 23, 2022, responding to prosecutors’ concerns about the planned trip, they said Holmes had booked it before the jury’s verdict to attend a wedding in Mexico.

“Given the verdict, she has no plans to make the trip and therefore did not provide notice, request permission or request access to her (government-held) passport for the trip,” wrote Lance Wade, one of Holmes’ attorneys.

incl On Nov. 17, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentenced Holmes to more than 11 years in prison.. Davila ordered Holmes, who is pregnant, to report to jail on April 27, giving her enough time to give birth to her second child before she is incarcerated. She gave birth to a son shortly before the trial began last year.

Prosecutors did not challenge Dávila’s decision to give Holmes five months of freedom or mention the fact that they believed she might flee.

Holmes is scheduled to return to court on March 17 for a hearing on her request to stay out of jail while she appeals the sentence.