Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Anna Sorokin, Who Scammed Others As Fake Heiress Anna Delvey, Is Released From Prison Early
Anna Sorokin wasted no time returning to social media, where she posted a photo of herself in bed with the caption "Prison is so exhausting, you wouldn't know" on her Instagram account.
Anna Sorokin, who once pretended to be a fake, wealthy German heiress to scam friends and banks out of significant cash, has been released from prison early due to good behavior.
Sorokin was released Thursday from the Albion Correctional Facility in upstate New York after serving a fraction of her four- to 12-year sentence behind bars, according to a statement from the New York State Department of Correction obtained by Oxygen.com.
Sorokin served less than two years of the sentence. She received a “merit time release” for exhibiting good behavior and achieving programmatic benchmarks behind bars that allow prisoners to shave time off their sentence, authorities said.
Sorokin—who had used the name Anna Delvey in her schemes—was convicted in April 2019 of three counts of grand larceny and one count of attempted grand larceny after prosecutors said she convinced friends and businesses to fund her lavish lifestyle by pretending to be a wealthy heiress with a sizeable fortune tied up overseas, NBC News reports.
Sorokin told the Board of Parole that she planned to live with a male friend upon her release from prison, the network reports.
The 30-year-old wasted no time returning to social media, where she posted a photo of herself in bed, wearing a pair of sunglasses on her Instagram account shortly after her release.
“Prison is so exhausting, you wouldn’t know,” she wrote.
A short time later, she channeled “Basic Instinct,” posting an infamous image from the movie of Sharon Stone and writing the caption “Pleading the fifth.”
Sorokin’s story made headlines after the socialite’s deception was detailed in a 2018 article in New York Magazine's The Cut.
Sorokin, using the name Anna Delvey, claimed to have a $60 million trust fund overseas and cunningly convinced others around her to the foot the bill for her extravagant purchases. She’s accused of stealing $200,000 from businesses, once convincing a bank to lend her $100,000.
She also took advantage of her friends, allegedly leaving one friend with a $62,000 bill from trip to Morocco.
It's estimated in total she stole around $275,000, NBC News reports.
Sorokin apologized for her actions in front of the parole board in October.
“I just want to say that I’m really ashamed and I’m really sorry for what I did,” she said, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by The New York Post.
Sorokin paid restitution to her victims after scoring a deal with Netflix to produce a limited series about her life posing as a wealthy heiress, the Insider reports.
She also reportedly plans to appeal her convictions despite her release, arguing that the money she owed to banks should have been handled as a civil matter rather than in a criminal court.
"It clears her name and that's important," Sorokin's attorney Audrey A. Thomas told Insider. "It's in her interest to pursue the appeal because she has her whole identity riding on this."
According to New York State Department of Corrections, Sorokin will serve out the remainder of her sentence under community supervision.
Sorokin's exploits will be the subject of an upcoming Netflix film "Inventing Anna," starring Julia Garner. It's expected to be released later this year.
