Elizabeth Holmes returns to court in a bid to avoid prison

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Friday made her final court appearance before beginning an 11-year prison sentence unless a judge allows her request to remain free while her lawyers appeal her conviction for masterminding a blood-testing hoax.

This 90-minute hearing came four months after the previous hearing. That was when U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentenced her for duping investors in Theranos, a startup she founded 20 years ago and rode to fleeting fame and fortune on her promises of revolutionary blood-testing technology.

The proceedings closed without confirming whether Holmes, 39, will be stayed out of prison while her appeal unfolds or have sursurrendered authorities on April 27, as currently scheduled. Davila said he hopes to issue his ruling in early April.

The judge earlier this month refused a similar bid to avoid prison made by Holmes' former lover and convicted Theranos accomplice, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who is facing a 13-years sentence after a jury found him guilty of 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy. Balwani, 57, was reported to a federal prison in Southern California Thursday, but his lawyer used a last-minute legal maneuver to gain more time.

One of her lawyers, Amy Saharia, argued that Holmes should be allowed to remain free because of various missteps in the presentation and omission of evidence during her four-month trial that makes it likely an appeals court will overturn her conviction on four counts of fraud and conspiracy.