District Judge Edward Davila recommends that it would be best for Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, to finish her sentence in a federal prison camp in Texas.
According to a filing, Davila wrote that family visitations will enhance rehabilitation, as the Court has found. Holmes will be serving her time for 11 years and three months.
The Cadillac of Prisons
The prison camp in Bryan, Texas, was meant to be an alternative for the Theranos founder, as opposed to a California prison. Allan Ellis, a criminal defense lawyer, said that the prison camp was "heaven" compared to the others in the system. Usually, prison camps have a work program, dormitory housing, and low-security ratio compared to inmates.
Another criminal defense attorney, Keri Axel, said that it made sense that Holmes would be placed in a facility with minimum security since Holmes identifies as a non-violent offender. He added that even though no one wants to be there, the place has more amenities, and it is relatively nicer. Then again, a prison is still a prison, it will final decision will rest in the US Bureau of Prison's hands, according to Gizmodo.
Read also: Elizabeth Holmes Net Worth 2021: Theranos Founder Falls to 0 After Reaching More Than $4.5 Billion
The Promise of a Medical Marvel
Holmes went to Stanford University to study chemical engineering, but then she dropped out to start Theranos at the early age of 19, valued at $9 billion. She claims to have found a way to diagnose conditions with just a small blood sample, which can be attained with the prick of a finger. She called the invention "Edison," which attracted a lot of big names to invest.
The people who saw potential and decided to back her were US Treasury Secretary George Schultz, businessman Rupert Murdock, and one of the richest families in America, the Waltons. Well-known names added heft to her claims, which made her skyrocket to success much faster. Investors and scientists alike believed her claims of a revolutionary way of detecting illnesses.
In 2015, a whistleblower started pointing concerns that would dismantle Theranos' credibility. The Wall Street Journal started exposing the blood-testing company for not providing what it claimed it could do. It stated that pre-existing machines made by other manufacturers were used to test the blood.
The issues with the company started to pool. Lawsuits were crippling the company and partners started cutting ties. This finally led to Holmes being banned from conducting a service for blood testing, which extended for two years, starting in 2016. Eventually, Theranos fell in 2018, leaving the company with civil charges from financial regulators, with fraud allegations amounting to $700 million.
According to BBC, prosecutors stated that she misled patients about the capabilities of her company. And exaggerated Theranos' performance to assure financial backers. At sentencing, Holmes' team proposed an 18-month sentence of supervised house arrest. However, the final decision was 11 years and three months, which she would be serving in prison. The final sentence was a far off from what her team proposed, leaving the currently pregnant offender to spend years behind bars.
