Ex-Theranos president Sunny Balwani will go to prison after losing appeal

Former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani will go to prison this month after a US appeals court rejected his bid to remain free on fraud and conspiracy charges related to his involvement in a blood test fraud with his former boss and lover, Elizabeth Holmes.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision last Thursday denying Balwani’s request to delay the start of his nearly 13-year prison sentence still leaves open the question of when he will have to surrender to authorities.

Jeffrey Coopersmith, one of Balwani’s attorneys, proposed that Balwani, 57, report to prison on April 20 in a motion filed with U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, who presided over Balwani’s trial last year and imposed his sentence in December.

Balwani’s proposed April 20 report date is a week before Holmes, the founder and CEO of Theranos, is scheduled to begin serving a more than 11-year prison sentence after being convicted on four counts of fraud and conspiracy last year.

Holmes asked to remain free during the appeal process

Holmes, 39, appeared before Davila last month along with her attorney in an attempt to persuade the judge to allow her to remain free while she pursues her own appeal. Davila has not yet ruled on Holmes’ request.

Davila last month denied Balwani’s request to remain free while he appealed his conviction on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy and ordered him to report to prison on March 16.

But three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that Balwani had not presented strong enough evidence to warrant that the conviction should be overturned.

WATCH | Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is cross-examined during the fraud trial:

Theranos founder cross-examined in fraud trial

Elizabeth Holmes was cross-examined after taking the stand in a US court for fraud. The now-disputed founder of blood-testing company Theranos faces up to 20 years in prison.

The verdict means Balwani will soon travel to Southern California to serve time at a facility near the port in San Pedro, California, located about 50 kilometers from downtown Los Angeles.

Terminal Island Prison has held several other notable figures, including gangster Al Capone in the 1930s, apocalyptic cult leader Charles Manson for car theft in the 1950s, and LSD evangelist Timothy Leary in the 1970s.

Although they had separate trials, Holmes and Balwani were accused of essentially the same crime centered on the ruse touting the Theranos blood-testing system as a revolutionary discovery in health. These claims helped the company become a Silicon Valley sensation that raised nearly $1 billion from investors.

But the technology never came close to working as Holmes and Balwani boasted, leading to the downfall of the Theranos scandal and a criminal case that shone a bright light on Silicon Valley’s greed and hubris.