BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Elizabeth Holmes booked a one-way flight to Mexico that departed shortly after she was convicted of fraud in an attempt to flee the country, federal prosecutors said in a motion arguing that Holmes should begin serving her prison sentence now.
Holmes never boarded the plane, but prosecutors said that it’s difficult to know what she would have done had the government not intervened three days prior. She is a flight risk, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds said.
“The time has come for Elizabeth Holmes to answer for her crimes committed nearly a decade ago,” Hinds wrote in her motion on Thursday.
Holmes was convicted by a jury on Jan. 3 last year, and Judge Edward Davila sentenced her to 11 years in prison, starting on April 27 this year. He delayed her sentencing in part because Holmes became pregnant with her second child.
Holmes filed a motion to delay her prison sentence while she appeals her conviction, and Hinds is opposing it.
“Defendant has lived on an estate with reportedly more than $13,000 in monthly expenses for upkeep and has conceived two children with her current partner,” Hinds said.
Prosecutors became aware on Jan. 23, 2022, that Holmes had booked an international flight to Mexico departing on Jan. 26.
Holmes’ explanation
Holmes’ lawyer, Lance Wade, told federal prosecutors that Holmes made the reservation before the guilty verdict.
“The hope was that the verdict would be different and Ms. Holmes would be able to make this trip to attend the wedding of close friends,” he said in an email to U.S. Attorney Jeff Schenk on Jan. 23 last year.
Given the verdict, Holmes wouldn’t take the trip, and that’s why she didn’t ask for her passport from the government, Wade said.
Holmes will cancel the flight, Wade said.
Hinds pointed out that Holmes only canceled the trip after the government raised the issue. Her partner, William Evans, left on the scheduled date with a one-way ticket and didn’t return until six weeks later from South Africa, Hinds said.
“The government anticipates (Holmes) will note in reply that she did not in fact leave the country as scheduled — but it is difficult to know with certainty what (she) would have done had the government not intervened,” Hinds said.
Hinds obtained information from U.S. probation officers, who received monthly cash flow statements from Holmes that said her monthly bills are more than $13,000. She’s currently living in Woodside.
If she really had planned on attending a wedding on Mexico before she was found guilty, why didn’t she book a round-trip flight? Did she really think she’d be found not guilty?
The optics of her booking a one-way ticket are quite stunning. If she really planned to flee, why not book a round-trip ticket anyway and just not show up for the return trip?
Her ignorance is astounding. She had to have known that the government monitors the reservation databanks of airlines to catch terrorists and fugitives. I’m sure somebody out on bond awaiting sentencing is on the same kind of watch list. She should have just packed up the car and crossed the border at Tijuana, where the border guards are spending much more time checking the people trying to get into the U.S., not leave it.