Anna Sorokin, Faux Heiress And Subject Of Netflix Series And HBO Project, Wins Parole Date
Anna Sorokin, the fake heiress who swindled the high society elite of Manhattan, has been granted parole.
The rights to her story were acquired by Netflix, with Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes attached. Lena Dunham is also working on a Sorokin project for HBO.
Sorokin, now 29, could be released as soon as early next year, her attorney Todd Spodek told the New York Post on Friday.
“Anna has paid her debt to society handsomely, and I hope society repays the favor,” Spodek said.
Sorokin scammed an estimated $275,000 from her friends while pretending to be an heiress with funds tied up in various transit.
Sorokin is incarcerated at Albion Correctional Facility, a medium-security facility in upstate New York. She faces deportation to Germany upon release. She was convicted in April of last year of attempted grand larceny, theft of services, and larceny in the second degree and sentenced to serve 4 to 12 years in state prison, fined $24,000, and ordered to pay restitution of about $199,000.
UPDATE: Anna Sorokin, who faked being an heiress and scammed hotels, friends and others out of huge amounts of money and services, told the New York Times in an interview that she’s not sorry.
“I’d be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything,” Sorokin told The New York Times. “I regret the way I went about certain things.”
Sorokin was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years in prison for her theft. Sorokin used the name Anna Delvey and claimed a 60-million-euro fortune.
“My motive was never money,” she said, adding, “I was power hungry. I’m not a good person.”
Sorokin claims she’ll write a memoir about her exploits, and also a second volume about her stint at New York prison Rikers Island.
After serving her time, Sorokin will likely be deported.
EARLIER: Anna Sorokin, who posed as a German heiress and scammed money, hotel rooms and travel from unwitting banks, hotels, friends and others, was found guilty of attempted grand larceny Thursday in Manhattan.
Sorokin was convicted for stealing more than $200,000 from banks and friends, who fueled her entry into upper crust society under the belief she was heir to a fortune, but having difficulty juggling funds.
Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, was convicted of attempted grand larceny, three grand larceny counts and a misdemeanor charge of theft of services, District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said. She is expected to be sentenced on May 9.
The brazen scam made Sorokin a hot Hollywood commodity after she was profiled in a New York Magazine article, How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People, by Jessica Pressler. An estimated dozen producers were pursuing the story for a screen adaptation for TV and/or features.
The rights were eventually acquired by Netflix, with Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes attached. It would be Rhimes’s first series for the streaming service.
As for 28-year-old Sorokin, she’s likely headed for a different hotel – The Grey Bar.
“As proven at trial, Anna Sorokin committed real white-collar felonies over the course of her lengthy masquerade,” Vance said in a statement. “I thank the jury for its service in this complex trial, as well as my office’s prosecutors and investigators for their meticulous investigation and resolve to ensure that Sorokin faces real justice for her many thefts and lies.”
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