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Fake Heiress Anna Sorokin To Be Released From ICE Detention Facility, But She Has To Stay Off Social Media
“We are extremely gratified by the court’s decision today to release Anna Sorokin. The judge rightfully recognized that Anna is not a danger to the community,” her attorney Duncan Levin told Oxygen.com of the judge's decision Wednesday to let her be detained in a residential setting.
Fake German heiress Anna Sorokin is being released from a federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility as she awaits immigration proceedings against her.
Judge Charles Conroy ruled that Sorokin, who gained notoriety after pretending to be a German heiress named Anna Delvey and swindling thousands of dollars from banks and her friends, was to be released from the Orange County, New York facility where she had been held since her arrest in March of 2021 for an expired visa, according to Bloomberg.
As part of the conditions of the release, Sorokin must post a $10,000 bond, be subjected to “24-hour confinement at the provided residential address for the duration of her immigration proceedings,” and stay off social media, The Daily Beast reports.
“We are extremely gratified by the court’s decision today to release Anna Sorokin. The judge rightfully recognized that Anna is not a danger to the community,” her attorney Duncan Levin told Oxygen.com in a statement. “While there are still a few hurdles to jump through on her release conditions, Anna is thrilled to be getting out so she can focus on appealing her wrongful conviction.”
Conroy made the decision Wednesday to release Sorokin after determining that her “status as a public figure” would make it “particularly difficult for her to avoid detection” as the immigration case against her proceeds.
He added that Sorokin—who was actually born in Russia—has “demonstrated interest in pursuing legitimate employment in the United States” but noted that the pursuits “will face heavy public scrutiny.”
Sorokin was found guilty in 2019 of eight charges including attempted grand larceny, grand larceny and theft of services after authorities said she masqueraded as a German heiress in New York City’s elite social scene to scam banks, business and her friends out of $275,000.
The sensational story is the subject of Netflix’s “Inventing Anna.” Sorokin used the money she made in the Netflix deal to pay restitution to her victims.
Although she was initially sentenced to four-to-12 years behind bars, she was released early in 2021 after serving just three years due to good behavior, Variety reports.
She was arrested six weeks later by ICE officers because of an expired visa.
Sorokin has capitalized on her notoriety to become a visual artist, even selling artwork and sketches she created behind bars. She told The New York Post she was also selling NFTs that give buyers access to “my jail pens and stationary that I customized by hand to my signed white cotton jail T-shirts and panties.”
After her release from prison in 2021, Sorokin quickly resumed her social media activity, where she has amassed 1 million Instagram followers.
Conroy, however, has ruled that she must abstain from posting on social media “either directly or by a third party.”
