Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison last week, forcing the pregnant mother to be away from her children for a large portion of their childhoods.
In photos taken outside the courthouse, Holmes, 38, was visibly pregnant, meaning she will likely give birth to her second child before she turns herself in to federal authorities on April 27 of next year to begin serving time.
After that, for the duration of her prison sentence, “Her kids might see her for a few hours on the weekend[s],” according to Lynn Espejo, a criminal justice reform advocate and former federal inmate.
Espejo tells PEOPLE that the April, 2023, start date to Holmes’ incarceration “gives her time to have the baby and recover from the birth.”
Holmes was convicted in January of defrauding investors in connection with her Silicon Valley blood-testing start-up, Theranos, Inc. In addition to her sentence of 11 years and three months in prison, she was ordered to serve three months of supervised release after her incarceration.
Holmes had asked the court for a sentence of 18 months of house arrest. Her lawyer called her a “loving and dedicated mother and partner,” who is dreading being away from her children, The Mercury News reports.
Prosecutors argued for a 15-year sentence — and for Holmes to pay $804 million in restitution for 29 investors, according to The New York Times.
In a sentencing memo, Holmes’ partner, Billy Evans, a hotel heir, asked the court to give Holmes a lighter sentence, saying she would miss so many special moments with their son, including rocking him to sleep at night, The Mercury News reports.
“My heart is broken with the thought of spending any days away from Liz, for a future in which my son grows up with a relationship with his mother on the other side of glass armed by guards,” he said in the memo, according to the outlet.
Holmes herself tearfully told the court, “I regret my failings with every cell of my body,” The Mercury News reports.
Where Will Holmes Be Incarcerated?
Holmes won’t find out exactly where she’s going until she gets closer to her surrender date, which may be delayed if she appeals her sentencing.
On Wednesday, Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California recommended Holmes serve her sentence at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, The Washington Post reports.
But the Bureau of Prisons makes the ultimate decision on where inmates are housed. The BOP usually places inmates at prisons within 500 miles of their loved ones, says Larry Levine, a former federal inmate who founded Wall Street Prison Consultants, which helps people transition to life behind bars.
Holmes could also end up at the Federal Prison Camp for Women at Victorville, a minimum-security facility about 85 miles northwest of Los Angeles, he says.
She could also land closer to home at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, the low-security women’s prison where actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin served their sentences after being convicted in the 2019 college admissions scandal.
‘She Could Be Out in 7 Years’: Expert
The good news for Holmes is that she won’t serve the entire 11 years and three months in prison, unless her behavior is bad, says Levine.
“When all is said and done, she could be out in seven years,” he says.
Under federal law, prisoners serve 85 percent of their sentences, which means that Holmes could end up serving a little over nine and a half years
