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Disgraced Theranos chief executive Elizabeth Holmes must begin serving her prison sentence while she tries to overturn her conviction in a blood-testing hoax that brought her fleeting fame and fortune.
- Elizabeth Holmes has also been ordered to pay $US452 million ($678 million) in restitution to her victims
- In April, Holmes deployed a last-minute legal manoeuvre to delay the start of her 11-year sentence
- Her former partner Ramesh Balwani started his sentence in April after being convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy
US District Judge Edward Davila also ordered Holmes to pay $US452 million ($678 million) in restitution to the victims of her crimes.
Holmes is being held jointly liable for that amount with her former lover and top Theranos lieutenant Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, who is already in prison after being convicted on a broader range of felonies in a separate trial.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on Holmes's attempt to avoid prison comes nearly three weeks after she deployed a last-minute legal manoeuvre to delay the start of her 11-year sentence.
She had been previously ordered to surrender to authorities on April 27.
A new date will be set for Holmes, 39, to leave her current home in the San Diego area and report to prison.
The punishment will separate Holmes from her current partner William 'Billy' Evans, their one-year-old son William and three-month-old daughter Invicta.
She became pregnant with Invicta after a jury convicted her on four counts of fraud and conspiracy in January 2022.
The judge has recommended that Holmes serve her sentence at a women's prison in Texas.
Balwani, 57, began a nearly 13-year prison sentence in April after being convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy last July.
He was incarcerated in a Southern California prison last month after losing a similar effort to remain free on bail while appealing his conviction.
The verdict against Holmes came after 46 days of trial testimony and other evidence that cast a spotlight on a culture of greed and hubris that infected Silicon Valley as technology became a more pervasive influence on society and the economy during the past 20 years.
Holmes's lawyers have been fighting her conviction on grounds of alleged mistakes and misconduct that occurred during her trial.
They have also contended errors and abuses that biased the jury were so egregious that she should be allowed to stay out of prison while the appeal unfolds — a request that has now been rebuffed by both Davila and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
AP