Ex-Theranos exec Sunny Balwani finds way to delay prison sentence

Former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani found an escape hatch Thursday from the scheduled start of his nearly 13-year prison sentence for a blood-testing hoax he engineered with his former boss and lover, Elizabeth Holmes.

Just hours before Balwani was supposed to surrender to authorities, his lawyer filed documents notifying U.S. District Judge Edward Davila that he wouldn't be doing so.

The notice cited a last-minute appeal of a recent Davila ruling rejecting Balwani's request to remain free while trying to overturn his conviction on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy. The Wednesday appeal of Davila's March 9 ruling triggered an automatic stay of his prison reporting date, which had been set for 2 p.m. Pacific time Thursday.