Elizabeth Holmes’s time in the spotlight is slowly coming to a close. A federal judge has denied the convicted Theranos CEO’s request to remain free while she was appealing her conviction.

Holmes will now have to begin her 11 years and three months sentence on April 27th.  She was found guilty of four fraud-related charges in January of 2022 and was sentenced in November.

Holmes bought a one-way flight to Mexico to attend a wedding with her partner Billy Evans, which would have taken place three weeks after she was convicted, according to a court filing.

This move caused prosecutors to argue that Holmes was a flight risk.

However, Judge Edward Davila said the flight wasn’t an attempt to flee but “ill-advised,” according to the filing.

"Booking international travel plans for a criminal defendant in anticipation of a complete defense victory is a bold move, and the failure to promptly cancel those plans after a guilty verdict is a perilously careless oversight," he said.

Holmes’s attorneys said they would raise “substantial questions” that could warrant a new trial.

Judge Davila went on to say that Holmes has not proven that her appeal would result in a new trial.

"Contrary to her suggestion that accuracy and reliability were central issues to her convictions, Ms. Holmes's misrepresentations to Theranos investors involved more than just whether Theranos technology worked as promised,” Davila said.

Holmes is one of the most controversial figures in medtech industry. She rose to stardom when she launched Theranos in 2003 after dropping out of Stanford University.

Dressed in all black, Holmes went to tradeshows and speaking engagements spreading Theranos’s message. She wooed physicians, patients, and investors alike with the promise of Theranos’s technology.

Holmes even made MDDI’s list of Medtech Billionaire’s in 2015.

However, Edison, Theranos’s test that could diagnose hundreds of diseases with one blood draw, did not work.

Eventually, Theranos, which was once valued at $9 billion, would be shut down in 2018 – but not before investors were bilked out of millions.

Holmes’s COO and former lover, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani has filed an emergency appeal seeking a last-minute reprieve while he challenges his conviction. He is scheduled to report to federal prison on April 20th.

Balwani was convicted in July on 12 criminal fraud charges, a stark contrast to the four charges that Holmes was convicted of in January 2022. Balwani was sentenced in December to 12.9 years in federal prison.