Elizabeth Holmes Reportedly Booked A One-Way Ticket To Mexico In Attempt To Flee US After Guilty Verdict

Prosecutors have filed a new claim against embattled CEO Elizabeth Holmes. The lawsuit, which was filed last Friday, sought to push the court to kickstart Holmes' jail term sooner under the claim that she posed a flight risk and was living lavishly despite her crimes.

The prosecutors cited in their filing an alleged attempt made by Holmes to flee the country after the jury found her guilty last January on charges of defrauding investors of her now-defunct company Theranos.

Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and some months in prison at the time, although she has since appealed her case. Her ex-boyfriend and former company president, Sunny Balwani, was also found guilty of several counts of fraud and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Keep on reading to learn more.

According to The Wrap, Holmes allegedly tried to "flee the country" to escape serving her 11 years sentence in federal prison.

The publication noted that prosecutors had filed a document on Friday that revealed how the Theranos founder had bought a one-way ticket to Mexico in January.

This comes after the embattled CEO was convicted of defrauding investors last January through her fraudulent blood testing company and was later sentenced in November that year. She has since appealed the conviction but has yet to serve her sentence due to her pregnancy.

While her jail term is expected to start in the spring of 2023, Holmes' expensive living arrangement has angered prosecutors who, through their filing, are pushing for her to begin her sentence now.

The prosecution also cited the flight attempt to bolster their claim that Holmes has not demonstrated convincingly that she is not a flight risk, contrary to her lawyers' claims.

Holmes' team had earlier argued that Holmes had booked the trip to Mexico before the jury found her guilty. It was claimed that she had planned to make the trip to Mexico to attend a friend's wedding.

"Given the verdict, she does not plan to take the trip and therefore did not provide notice, seek permission, or request access to her passport (which the government has) for the trip," wrote a member of the legal team to deny prosecutors' claims at the time.

The prosecution now argues that it was anticipated that Holmes would present an explanation for purchasing the one-way ticket. They said it was difficult to tell if she would have fled if the government hadn't interfered by halting her journey.

Holmes' trouble began when a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos, valued at $9 billion at the time, had deceived investors with claims that it had developed technology that could allow a range of conditions to be tested using a few drops of blood.

The company subsequently faced a string of legal and commercial actions from medical authorities, former business partners, patients and investors, and other relevant authorities.

The company's stock was severely hit, which led to the dissolution of the firm in September 2018. In the same year, Holmes was sued for fraud by the SEC alongside former company president Sunny Balwani, who was also her ex-boyfriend.

Like Holmes, the jury's verdict was guilty on all counts brought against Balwani. In November, he was sentenced to a federal prison to serve 13 years.

According to an expert, Holmes might only have to serve seven years out of the 11 years plus sentencing. This is predicated on her staying out of trouble in prison and being on her best behavior.

"When all is said and done, she could be out in seven years," the source said per People.

Taking classes like programming while serving her sentence could also reduce the time, per the source.

Another source said that prison would be quite challenging for the mother of one, with another on the way. "People think it's 'Camp Cupcake,'" the source said. "It's not."

As regards visitation rights, Holli Coulman, a prison consultant, said that "under the very best of circumstances, Holmes might be able to see her children several hours once or twice a week," per Mercury News.