Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, has begun serving her 11.25-year sentence for defrauding investors in her failed blood-testing startup.
Despite her ongoing appeal, she self-surrendered to a Texas women's prison camp, where she will remain for the foreseeable future. While some believe her sentence is too light for her role in a scheme that cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars, others argue it is too heavy for a non-violent offense.
On Tuesday, Holmes, who is 39 years old, was checked into the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. The low-level security facility is approximately 100 miles from Houston, where she grew up. Still, it is far from the San Diego home where she and her partner, Billy Williams, most recently lived with their minor children. The couple has a nearly two-year-old son and a three-month-old baby, conceived after Holmes' conviction and before sentencing. Lynn Espejo, who served 24 months at Bryan over a fraud conviction and now works as an advocate for criminal justice reform, believes that Holmes' inability to raise her children will be the most challenging part of her incarceration.
Upon arrival at the facility, new inmates are strip-searched, and their street clothes are mailed to their loved ones. They are then given a khaki uniform and boots to wear. Each prisoner is assigned to a small concrete room, which they share with three other women, each with their bunk bed and a high school-sized locker for personal belongings. Holmes will be paired with a fellow prisoner to help guide her, known as a "big sister," who will walk her through filling out her first commissary sheet. Inmates must purchase hygiene products, like soap and shampoo, and can spend up to $350 monthly on such items.
New prisoners at Bryan typically start working in the kitchen for the first 90 days before they can apply for another position. Espejo says "newbies'" kitchen shifts begin at 4:30 a.m. and run until noon. Eventually, Holmes, being a professional, will likely get a job at the facility teaching classes to other inmates within her realm of expertise that might help them become employed once they are released.
The 655 offenders housed at Bryan are allowed to have visitors on the weekends and holidays but can be limited depending on the availability of visiting space. Inmates can also email family and friends through a fee-based system known as TRULINCS and may also buy up to 300 minutes per month to speak on the phone with loved ones. However, Espejo notes this may not be enough for Holmes, who has small children.
Holmes will likely make friends with other inmates, as nonviolent offenders tend to rally around each other and try to help each other cope with their circumstances. According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, some fellow inmates were hoping to befriend Holmes before her arrival. While Bryan may not appear as bad as some women's prisons, given that there is a recreational area and a track outdoors to walk around, Espejo believes that the place is "horrible" and has blogged extensively about the conditions and alleged corruption at the facility.
Login