Yahoo Finance Prosecutors: Elizabeth Holmes should remain in prison before appeal
Federal prosecutors filed a legal document Wednesday doubling down on their position that convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes should be denied her freedom while her case is on appeal and that details of her legal arguments should remain open to the public.
Prosecutors said in a filing last week that they learned on Jan. 23, 2022, about three weeks after Holmes’ conviction, that she and her partner Billy Evans had purchased before the verdict one-way airline tickets to Mexico for Jan. 26, 2022.
In the new filing this week, prosecutors said Evans did depart on his scheduled flight. The U.S. attorneys go on to acknowledge that they previously lacked accurate information about Evans’ return, which Holmes has informed the court was by road across the U.S.-Mexico border through Tijuana.
“Importantly, [Holmes] does not contest the facts that matter to the Court’s determination of flight risk: she purchased a one-way ticket to Mexico and canceled it only after the government alerted her counsel to it,” the government’s filing states.
The filing comes as Holmes and government attorneys prepare for a March 17 hearing over Holmes’ request to remain out of prison while her case makes its way through the appellate court.
Holmes was convicted on four counts of federal securities fraud in January of last year and later sentenced to serve 11 years and three months for the offenses. She was instructed to surrender to custody on April 27.
Prosecutors say the couples’ itineraries are evidence that Holmes is a flight risk. Holmes’ attorneys have countered the claim. According to ABC News, an email from Holmes' attorney states that the tickets had been purchased before the verdict with the hope that if Holmes were acquitted she could attend the wedding of close friends.
According to Holmes, because prosecutors didn’t accurately represent Evans’ return travel in prior court documents, she should be allowed to keep secret certain details of the travel plans contained in the government’s motion opposing Holmes’ request to remain out of prison.
“The government stands by its opposition and the court should not strike nor seal any portion of [its motion],” prosecutors state, adding that in Holmes’ representations to the court concerning her prior travel plans she did not state clearly why the plans had been made.
“Noticeably absent from [Holmes’] filing is a declaration from the person whose mental state matters — defendant herself — asserting that she did not intend to nor attempt to flee in January 2022,” the government writes in its filing.
A hearing to decide on Holmes' request to remain free pending appeal is scheduled to take place on March 17.
WATCH: Yahoo Finance original documentary, Valley of Hype: The Culture that Built Elizabeth Holmes
Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.
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