Anna Sokorin, the masterful scammer who wormed her way into New York’s elite circles by posing as a German heiress, will be released from prison soon.
Anna Sokorin to be released from prison
In a statement quoted by The Daily Beast, Sokorin’s lawyer Duncan Levin rejoiced at the decision taken by a federal court to approve the Russian-born scammer’s $10 000 (est. R178 761) bail application.
“We are extremely gratified by the court’s decision today to release Anna Sorokin. The judge rightfully [recognised] that Anna is not a danger to the community,” Levin said.
Anna ‘Delvey’ will be out of federal confinement any day now, but her troubles are far from over, let alone the true extent of what life will be like on conditional release.
Levin revealed Sokorin will be kept on house arrest for the duration of her immigration battle. She is also restricted from any social media activity, either directly or by third-party access.
This is the first decision to swing Sokorin’s way since she was arrested in October 2017 in a sting operation spearheaded by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Two years later, the serial con artist was convicted of several charges, including second-degree grand larceny and service theft, among others, and sentenced to a maximum of 12 years imprisonment and a lengthy restitution bill owed to her victims.
Sokorin’s life story was depicted in a critically acclaimed Netflix series, Inventing Anna, by Emmy Award winner Julia Garner.
Anna Sokorin was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1991. She and her family moved to Germany when she was 16. Thereafter, Sokorin live in Paris, France, where she adopted the pseudonym ‘Anna Delvey’.
This persona, Sokorin kept when she relocated to New York City at the age of 23. Between 2014 and 2017, Anna ‘Delvey’ wormed her way into the Big Apple’s circle of aristocrats, posing as a German heiress who was supposedly awaiting a windfall of an inheritance.
This excuse provided Sokorin will limitless capabilities, and she made sure to abuse each con to its maximum capacity.
In a New York Times article that came out a day after she was sentenced, a remorseless Sokorin made it clear she felt no regret about swindling New York’s elite.
“The thing is, I’m not sorry. I’d be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything. I regret the way I went about certain things,” she said.
After serving nearly four years of her sentence, Sokorin was released in March 2021. Less than two months thereafter, however, the scammer was hauled back to federal prison, this time taken in by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division for overstaying her visa.