Convicted Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes managed to delay reporting to prison on Thursday after her legal team won a last-minute reprieve Wednesday from the federal judge’s order to start serving her sentence.
Holmes’ attorneys filed a motion late Tuesday against US District Judge Edward Davila’s decision earlier this month to reject the disgraced tech founder’s bid to remain free while appealing her conviction.
The mother of two had been ordered to report to prison on April 27 to start serving an 11-year stint.
However, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Holmes’ prison report date “has been automatically stayed.”
In its filing to appeals court, Holmes’ team argued the judge’s ruling “reflects numerous, inexplicable errors.”
“The court referred to Holmes’ ‘patient fraud convictions,’ despite the fact that the jury acquitted Holmes on those counts,” the filing said.
Holmes’ lawyers also alleged that Davila used “the wrong legal standard to assess whether key issues presented were likely to result in reversal” of her conviction.
Holmes will remain free on bail pending the outcome of her appeal of the judge’s ruling. The feds have 10 days to respond to the filing.
Last year, Holmes was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison after a jury found her guilty on four charges relating to defrauding investors. She was acquitted on charges of defrauding patients who took Theranos blood tests.
Holmes experienced a stunning downfall after reports revealed that Theranos’ blood tests could not perform many of the functions she claimed.
CNBC was first to report on the appeal.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
