Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is currently awaiting trial for 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each fraud count. She’s pled not guilty to all charges and plans on fighting them in court.
Holmes was originally scheduled to appear for trial in 2020, but her case was postponed three times due to the pandemic. In March of 2021, Holmes’s lawyers disclosed that she was pregnant and asked the judge to move the start date of the trial for a fourth time.
According to birth records obtained by ABC News, Holmes gave birth to her first child, a son named William Holmes Evans, on July 10, 2021, at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, Calif.
Neither Holmes nor her lawyers have commented on the birth, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Leach said that a baby would undoubtedly earn her sympathy votes from the jury. Not only would being a new mom possibly influence the outcome of her case, but John Carreyrou, the writer who first exposed the fraudulent operation in the Wall Street Journal in 2015, also argued that a child could also help Holmes during sentencing should she be found guilty.
“If Elizabeth is convicted and the case goes to the judge for sentencing, if he sends her to prison for a long time, he’d be depriving the child of his or her mother for many years,” John said to CNBC. “And that’s a heavy decision to make.”