Federal prosecutors “recklessly and inaccurately” accused Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes of trying to flee the U.S. after her felony-fraud conviction, using “incomplete and provably inaccurate statements of fact in support of that accusation,” her legal team said in a court filing Monday.
The prosecution last week alleged that Holmes had booked a one-way trip to Mexico, to leave in late January 2022 following her conviction at the start of the month, and only cancelled her flight after a prosecutor contacted her lawyers about it. Holmes’ partner Billy Evans, prosecutors claimed, had flown to Mexico, not returning for nearly six weeks, and then from South Africa.
In Monday’s filing, Holmes’ lawyers said she “has never attempted to flee” the U.S. “Before the jury had reached its verdict, Ms. Holmes hoped to be acquitted and thus to be able to attend the wedding of close friends in Mexico in late January 2022,” the filing said. “Mr. Evans booked flights for himself and Ms. Holmes—on commercial airlines based in the United States, using Ms. Holmes’ name — in December 2021, before the verdict. Once the verdict was issued, Ms. Holmes did not intend to make the trip.”
