If you’ve watched The Tinder Swindler on Netflix, the new true crime miniseries Inventing Anna may also intrigue you. It’s about a young woman named Anna Sorokin (who went by the name Anna Delvey) and apparently told friends she was a German heiress. After growing closer, she would ask people for money … and lots of it. Find out her crimes, if she is serving time in jail and what her sentence was. 

What Were Anna Sorokin’s Crimes? 

Posing as the fake German heiress Anna Delvey, Sorokin was able to convince others she lived a well-to-do life, and in turn, con some of New York City’s socialites and establishments out of thousands of dollars. 

While relying on others for her spending habits, she would dine at expensive restaurants, shop at high-fashion places and treat herself to only the best, often moving to different boutique hotels. She made ends meet via bounced checks and fake wire transfers until October 2017, at which time she was arrested on charges of grand larceny and theft

In May 2019, she was convicted of the crimes, having scammed more than $200,000 from a private jet operator, banks and luxury hotels throughout her con. 

Anna
Richard Drew/AP/Shutterstock

Did Anna Sorokin Get Jail Time?

Sorokin was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison, fined $24,000 and ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution. She was sent to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility before being transferred to Albion Correctional Facility in New York, where she was released early in February 2021 for good behavior. 

In a follow-up interview with ABC News, Sorokin, who pleaded not guilty during her trial, denied telling others that she was an heiress and said she was hoping to pay back the money she borrowed prior to her arrest.

“I never had a fraudulent intent,” she doubled down. “And I guess that’s what should really count.”

Anna Delvey's Remains Behind Amid New Netflix True Crime Series
Shutterstock; Netflix

Is Anna Sorokin a Free Woman Now?

Sorokin was taken into ICE custody for overstaying her visa in March 2021, and in an Insider essay published in February 2022, the subject of Netflix’s true crime series said she has been in ICE custody ever since and is still unsure if she will be deported to Germany.

“While I was in prison, I paid off the restitution from my criminal case in full to the banks I took money from. I also accomplished more in the six weeks they deemed were long enough for me to remain free than some people have in the past two years,” Sorokin wrote. “My visa overstay was unintentional and largely out of my control. I served my prison sentence, but I’m appealing my criminal conviction to clear my name. I did not break a single one of New York state’s or ICE’s parole rules. Despite all that, I’ve yet to be given a clear and fair path to compliance.”

Inventing Anna premieres on Netflix on February 11.

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