Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced entrepreneur accused of defrauding investors in her failed blood-testing startup Theranos, reported Tuesday to a federal prison in Texas to begin an 11-year, three-month sentence.
Ms. Holmes surrendered to FPC Bryan, a women’s minimum security prison located 90 minutes outside of Houston. Dressed in jeans, glasses, and a sweater, she pulled into a Ford Expedition and got out with some papers. As she entered the prison, a bystander watching from the street shouted her name.
FPC Bryan’s 655 inmates are required to work in the cafeteria or manufacturing facility, and wages start at $1.15 an hour, according to prison guidelines. Before starting work at the factory, Mrs. Holmes may take tests to assess her strengths in areas such as business, clerical, numerical, logical, mechanical, and “social.” Prisoners can also enroll in a “Lean Six Sigma” training program to learn about lean.
“We try to help our women get jobs in the factory that focus on their strengths and develop more marketable skills,” the prison’s handbook says.
Ms. Holmes, 39, was found guilty last year of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy for falsely claiming that Theranos blood tests could detect various diseases with just a few drops of blood. She and her former business partner Ramesh Balwani must jointly pay $452 million to defrauded investors. Ms Holmes is appealing her case, although her bid to remain in prison on appeal was rejected.
Ms. Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 after dropping out of Stanford University at the age of 19. The company raised $950 million in funding, making her a billionaire on paper. Theranos in 2010
The pairs were tested separately. Mr. Balwani was indicted on 12 counts of fraud and sentenced to nearly 13 years in federal prison in San Pedro, Calif. He also appealed the conviction.
Ms. Holmes’ punishment was meant to send a message to those in Silicon Valley: There are consequences when ambitious startup founders take what’s known as “till you make it” — when entrepreneurs excitedly talk about what their companies can do, even though the companies can’t yet do those things — far. . While the tech industry has long developed its rules, as entrepreneurs create new businesses and disrupt old ones, few have gone to jail for fraud.
Since her conviction, Ms. Holmes has lived in a rented house in San Diego near the family of Billy Evans, the father of her two children. At the time of the trial in San Jose, California, Ms. Holmes and Mr. Evans lived in the same house in the $135 million Green Gables complex.
Their two young children, William and Invita, can make video calls with Mrs. Holmes and visit her on weekends and federal holidays. Phone calls are limited to 15 minutes each, for a total of 300 minutes per month.
At FPC Bryan, Ms. Holmes, known for wearing black turtlenecks to mimic Steve Jobs while running Theranos, and during her trial sported heels, a sweatshirt and a diaper bag with prison-issued khaki pants and a pastel green shirt. Gray, or white with athletic shoes that shouldn’t cost more than $100.
She will have no Internet access, but she can buy a radio ($31.75) or an MP3 player ($88.40) from the commission. According to the prison’s handbook, all music must be “obscure.”
FPC Bryan offers recreational activities, including musical programs, “board games” and movies, according to the guidelines. Arts and crafts are available including beads, knitting, paper art, crochet and ceramics. According to the guide, a knitting needle is $1.30 and a thread at FPC Bryan’s commissary is $3.55.
Inmates are allowed access to the “recreation yard tent” outside, but must return to their dorms for head counts that occur five times every 24 hours.
It is against the rules to falsify or falsify documents and conduct business. Ms Holmes admitted to falsifying pharmaceutical reports to solicit investors while testifying at trial.
Other inmates at the prison camp include “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jane Shah, who is serving a five-and-a-half-year sentence for telemarketing-related wire fraud. In a blog post from March about her early days at the prison, Ms Shah described the phone system, which used serial numbers, as difficult to operate and said many people were not nice. Breakfast was instant oatmeal, an apple, and a slice of wheat bread with jelly, she wrote.
Leah Fastow, a former executive for the failed energy company Enron, was jailed for 11 months at FPC Bryan in the mid-2000s for tax evasion. Jenna Ryan, who was involved in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, has served 60 days. And Hot Pocket co-founder Michelle Janaves’ daughter served five months in connection with the “Operation Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal.
In the year Three inmates escaped from FPC Bryan in 2017. One of them, Edith Lara, who was serving time on drug charges, is missing, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
Annie Mulligan He reports from Bryan, Texas.
[ad_2]