On May 30, 2023, Elizabeth Holmes entered FPC Bryan, a minimum security federal prison in Texas, to begin her 11 year, 3 months prison term. The federal system has long been known for prisoners serving their full term of incarceration, unlike many states where rather long sentences are cut short in favor of parole. However, many seemed surprised that Holmes, like most white-collar offenders, may not be spending as much time in prison as many assumed.
Forbes’ own Robert Half weighed in on Holmes’ sentence, as did many other news outlets, once it was known that her time in prison would be somewhat shorter than the full term imposed by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila. Holmes had her sentence computation done within the first 30 days of arriving at Bryan. Her release date is listed on BOP.gov as December 29, 2032. That is just over 9 years from now, which caused a bit of a stir. Holmes received 608 days off of her sentence which is known as Good Conduct Time (GCT). It is calculated at the beginning of the sentence and, if she were to incur a disciplinary infraction, some of those days can be taken away. Most all prisoners receive 54 days per year of GCT based on the sentence imposed.
Beyond GCT, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has, in the past, had few ways to reduce the prison term. One program is the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), which can shave off up to a year of the sentence. To qualify, the prisoner must not have a disqualifying offense, such as terrorism or gun charge, and voluntarily provided information that they had a drug or alcohol problem prior to their arrest. This disclosure has to be done prior to sentencing during the pre-sentence interview and must be also documented in the Presentence Report, a detailed report used by the BOP to determine things like classification and programming for the prisoner.
President George W. Bush signed the Second Chance Act, which can give some prisoners up to 1 year in pre-release custody (halfway house or home confinement). The Second Chance Act allowed prisoners to spend the last 10% of their imposed sentence, up to 6 months, in home confinement. This has been the case for decades now. While the prisoner is very much in the custody of the BOP, they can work, be with family and live in their own home for that last portion of the prison term.
Things really changed in December 2018 with the signing of the First Step Act by President Donald Trump, which gave certain prisoners the ability to earn up to 365 days off any imposed sentence by participating in prison programming such as a self-improvement classes, a job or religious activities. These credits, which are awarded monthly, are limited to up to 15 days each month off the sentence. There are 68 crimes that are excluded from First Step Act credits, but frauds like those Ms. Holmes was convicted of are not among them. It is highly likely that Ms. Holmes will earn the entire 365 days of credits to effectively reduce her prison term by one year.
Beyond the year off, prisoners can continue to earn First Step Act credits that can be applied toward home confinement and there is no limit on those credits. Those with longer prison terms, like Ms. Holmes, will benefit from the ability to earn even more credits. In fact, over a 135-month sentence, Ms. Holmes can earn up to 960 days of First Step Act credits, 365 toward reducing the sentence (as mentioned above) and another 595 days toward home confinement.
Breaking down the numbers, Ms. Holmes’ 135-months will be reduced by 20 months for Good Conduct time. She could then receive 24 months off through the combination of First Step Act and RDAP credits, assuming she qualifies for RDAP. Additional home confinement credits under the First Step Act, 20 months (595 days), and Second Chance Act, 6 months toward home confinement, will mean that Holmes could potentially leave prison November 30, 2028. Her 135-months could be reduced to 66 months at FPC Bryan with the remainder of the shortened sentence served on home confinement. It is a significant reduction in time behind bars.
While some may view this as preferential treatment, it is not. Holmes will have to earn or keep any credits toward a reduced sentence by being a well-adjusted, contributing member of the institution at Bryan. In addition, she’ll have to comply with the strict rules of home confinement. There is a significant reward for her doing so and it is likely Holmes will be back home much sooner than most expected.
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