Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of now-defunct blood testing startup Theranos, has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to release her from prison with nearly six years left before she is eligible for release.
Holmes sought to commute her 11-1/4-year sentence last year and her request remains pending, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Now 41, Holmes was convicted in 2022 on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy for cheating investors, and ordered to pay $452 million in restitution. A federal appeals court upheld her conviction and sentence last February.
Prosecutors said Holmes lied to investors from 2010 to 2015 by promising Theranos’ technology could run many medical tests on one blood drop from a finger prick.
Theranos was once valued at $9 billion, and Forbes magazine estimated Holmes’ net worth at $4.5 billion in 2015.
Holmes would still owe restitution if Trump released her from prison, but would not owe it, opens new tab if he pardoned her.
She is housed at a minimum security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, and eligible for release in December 2031.
The White House declined to comment on Holmes’ request. Lawyers for Holmes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
