Elizabeth Holmes asks Trump to shorten prison sentence for Theranos fraud

White House is sifting through thousands of clemency requests, including a pardon bid by Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang, who was convicted over the collapse of his $36 bn family office

By David Voreacos

 

Disgraced Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes has formally asked President Donald Trump to release her from prison with almost six years left to serve on her term. 

Holmes asked Trump last month to commute her 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup. Her application appeared in a Justice Department database in mid-December, according to archived copies posted on lawyeroyer.com.

 

After Holmes was convicted in 2022 at a trial in San Jose, California, the judge ordered her in May 2023 to pay $452 million in restitution. If Trump commutes her sentence, she still would owe restitution and remain on probation. Those obligations would not apply if she got a pardon. 

The White House is sifting through thousands of clemency requests, including a pardon bid by Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang, who was convicted over the collapse of his $36 billion family office.

 

 

Last week, Trump granted clemency to more than 20 people, including several convicted of white-collar crimes. Trump says he’s using his unchecked clemency powers to correct abuses in the criminal-justice system against those prosecuted for political reasons. But critics say he’s abusing the process and undermining the work of prosecutors.

 

Attorneys for Holmes didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment. 

 

The White House said it does not comment on potential clemency requests and that the president is “the final decider” on all pardons or commutations.

 

Holmes, 41, has two small children and is serving her term at a minimum-security prison camp northwest of Houston. She has asked the judge who sentenced her to knock more than two years off her punishment. She’s scheduled to be released on Dec. 30, 2031, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

 

Last year, a federal appeals court rejected her request to overturn her fraud conviction. It also upheld the conviction of her former business and romantic partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, as well as the restitution the pair must pay to 14 victims.

 

Their Silicon Valley startup, fueled by the celebrity of Holmes, once had a $9 billion valuation. But the company collapsed after its testing technology was exposed as a failure, prompting books, films and podcasts.

 

In November, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Holmes had posted a stream of posts on the social media platform X that proclaimed her innocence and supported Trump’s agenda.