The appeals of Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani to overturn their convictions for fraud and reduce their prison sentences have been rejected by the Northern District Court of California. Additionally, the court refused to modify the $452 million joint restitution order imposed on them.

In 2022, Holmes, the founder of Theranos, and Balwani, the company’s former COO, were found guilty in separate trials of deceiving investors about the capabilities of Theranos’s blood-testing technology. Holmes was given a prison sentence of more than 11 years, while Balwani received a sentence of nearly 13 years. They both began serving their sentences in 2023.

During their appeal, Holmes and Balwani contended that the district court had allowed former Theranos employees who were serving as lay witnesses to provide improper expert testimony without the necessary legal designation. Although the appeals panel acknowledged that some testimony had indeed strayed into expert territory, it ultimately concluded that these errors were harmless and did not impact the outcome of the case.

Holmes also disputed the inclusion of a damning government report that highlighted the failures in Theranos’s lab, claiming it unfairly influenced the jury’s decision. However, the court determined that the report was relevant in establishing her knowledge and intent. Furthermore, Holmes argued that her rights had been violated when she was prohibited from cross-examining a former Theranos laboratory director regarding certain aspects of his post-Theranos employment. The appellate panel disagreed, stating that the court did not abuse its discretion in limiting the scope of the cross-examination.

Meanwhile, Balwani claimed that his charges had been improperly expanded during the trial, but the panel dismissed this argument. He also argued that his right to a fair trial had been violated because the government had not corrected what he alleged was false testimony from two investors. The court rejected this argument as well, stating that even if there were issues, they would not have affected the outcome of the case.

Currently, Balwani is serving his sentence at the Terminal Island federal facility, a minimum-security institution located just outside of Los Angeles. Holmes, on the other hand, is serving her sentence at Camp Bryan, a minimum-security federal prison camp approximately 100 miles from Houston.