Elizabeth Holmes: Judge recommends Texas prison for Theranos founder

The federal judge who sentenced Elizabeth Holmes to more than 11 years in prison for her fraud convictions recommended the Theranos founder begin serving her time at a prison in Texas.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila wrote in a court filing that Holmes must surrender to authorities April 27 and suggested she be designated to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas.

While the decision is not final, because the Bureau of Prisons will ultimately determine where Holmes ends up, one former inmate at the all-female facility says the place is "horrible."

Lynn Espejo, who served 24 months at Bryan over a fraud conviction and now works as an advocate for criminal justice reform, told FOX Business she "wouldn't say it's the hellhole of the BOP, but it's close."

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Espejo has blogged extensively on the conditions and alleged corruption at Bryan and says it is difficult to put into words "what the atmosphere is like or how the mistreatment works there."

Like any federal detention facility, Holmes will first undergo a strip search upon arrival, and her street clothes will be mailed to her family and replaced with a khaki uniform and boots. If the federal government's COVID-19 public health emergency is still in place when Holmes arrives, she can also expect to go into quarantine for at least 14 days.

The former inmate says one feature about Bryan that is better than some other facilities is that it is not one big open barracks and has small concrete rooms where women can be assigned.

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Espejo says the quarters are cramped, with four women to a room, bunk beds and a high school-sized locker for personal belongings.

Holmes will be paired with a fellow prisoner to help guide her, known as a "big sister," who will walk her through filling out her first commissary sheet. Inmates must purchase all of their own hygiene products like soap and shampoo and are allowed to spend up to $350 per month on such items. 

New prisoners at Bryan typically start out working in the kitchen for the first 90 days before they are able to apply for another position. Espejo says "newbies'" kitchen shifts begin at 4:30 a.m. and run until around noon.

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Inmates are also able to email family and friends through a fee-based system known as TRULINCS and may also buy up to 300 minutes per month to speak on the phone with loved ones.

"Divide that out by 30 days, that's roughly 10 minutes a day to talk to your family," Espejo noted. "It's not much, and if you've got little kids you're trying to help parent" like Holmes, she says, "it really has to be difficult."

At Bryan, Holmes should be able to have visitors on weekends, and there is a recreational area and a track outdoors to walk around. Unlike some other lower-level security facilities, Bryan does have a razor wire fence surrounding it.

Espejo says that eventually Holmes, being a professional, will likely get a job at the facility teaching classes to other inmates within her realm of expertise that might help them become employed once they are released. 

Holmes will certainly make friends with other inmates, Espejo says, because nonviolent offenders in particular tend to rally around each other and try to help each other cope with their circumstances.

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Espejo says that Holmes' situation will be more difficult than her own, given that the Theranos founder was sentenced to so many years behind bars with one small child and another on the way.

"It is traumatic having your freedom taken away, obviously," Espejo told FOX Business, "But just living away from your family like that.… My kids were grown. I can't imagine how it's going to feel for her that she has very small children that she doesn't get to raise."