Elizabeth Holmes, the so-called mastermind behind the Theranos fraud, has received yet another dose of reality as her appeal has been firmly shot down. A trio of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit swooped in on Monday, upholding her conviction and reaffirming that she’s indeed guilty of the felony fraud that bogged her down in the first place.

Holmes now finds herself in hot water with a solid 11-plus year prison sentence hanging over her head, not to mention the major restitution bill that leaves her considerably bankrupt , or at least, as bankrupt as a wannabe tech mogul can be. Judge Jacqueline Nguyen’s opinion was as blunt as it gets, declaring that the “vision sold by Holmes… was nothing more than a mirage”. Ouch.

Her legal team tried to pull a fast one, arguing that the trial judge didn’t play fair by allowing certain testimony while blocking out others. However, the appellate judges weren’t buying any of it and methodically poured cold water on all claims, stating that the mistakes made during the trial had “no harmful effect given the overwhelming evidence of guilt”. So much for running a successful con, huh?

If you’re thinking this will be the end of the saga, you might want to reconsider. Holmes could still aim higher, though legal experts weigh in on the improbability of her success. So, an encore at the U.S. Supreme Court? Not likely, according to Stanford’s law genius Robert Weisberg, who quipped that chances for re-hearing in the Ninth Circuit are “very unlikely” and Supreme Court attention is borderline “inconceivable”. Hm, time to hang up the cape, Lady Holmes.

This whole fiasco has been an ongoing saga since the days Theranos claimed to revolutionize blood testing, only to fling investors into a nightmare of financial loss with exaggerated tech promises. The company, once worth a staggering $9 billion, ultimately crumbled into nothing more than a cautionary tale about Silicon Valley dreams gone wrong.

Now in federal minimum security, Holmes is expected to serve her sentence and is slated for release in March 2032. So, while the rest of us are out here hustling to make rent, she’ll be marking her calendars for another eight years. Who’s the real winner in this scenario, right? Let’s pop a bottle once those years are up , with validated tech, of course.