{"id":213595,"date":"2019-05-10T01:55:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T05:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=213595"},"modified":"2019-05-10T01:55:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T05:55:40","slug":"fake-german-heiress-sentenced-to-4-12-years-behind-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/05\/10\/fake-german-heiress-sentenced-to-4-12-years-behind-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake German heiress sentenced to 4 12 years behind bars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anna Sorokin, the German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle banks, hotels and even close friends as she lived out a high-society, Instagram-ready fantasy in New York, was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years in prison. (File Photo<\/a>: theannadelvey\/Instagram<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0Anna\u00a0Sorokin, the German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle banks, hotels and even close friends as she lived out a high-society, Instagram-ready fantasy in New York, was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old, who had played with her own tabloid image during the trial by wearing stylish dresses to court, looked despondent as the verdict was announced. She pressed her hand to her face and squeezed her eyes shut, appearing to hold back tears.<\/p>\n

Judge Diane Kiesel said\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0had been \u201cblinded by the glitter and glamour of New York City\u201d as she turned to fraud to finance a life she could never afford. But the judge turned down a request bySorokin’s lawyers to sentence her to the time she has already spent in jail awaiting trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am stunned by the depth of the defendant’s deception,\u201d Kiesel said, adding that she hoped to send a message to\u00a0Sorokin’s internet following \u201cthat her behaviour is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly she didn’t think about the people she scammed,\u201d the judge added.<\/p>\n

The sentencing capped a spectacular case that drew international attention and tabloid headlines. Netflix and HBO are both working on shows based on\u00a0Sorokin’s audacious efforts to finagle her way into the Manhattan socialite scene.<\/p>\n

She was convicted last month on multiple counts of larceny and theft and has been in custody since her October 2017 arrest\u2014 time behind bars that will be credited toward her sentence. The judge also ordered\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution and a $24,000 fine.<\/p>\n

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said it will seek to deport\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0to Germany following her release from state prison.<\/p>\n

Moments before she was sentenced,\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0briefly addressed the court, saying, \u201cI apologize for the mistakes I made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her defence attorney, Todd Spodek, told a gaggle of reporters that\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0was \u201cholding up OK.\u201d He described the prison sentence as \u201cexpected\u201d but said\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0will pursue an appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s a tough woman,\u201d Spodek said, noting she has been at Rikers Island for more than 500 days.<\/p>\n

Sorokin\u00a0forged a new identity \u2014\u00a0Anna\u00a0Delvey \u2014 and defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrities into believing she had a fortune of $67 million (60 million euros) overseas that could cover her jet-setting lifestyle , high-end clothing and lavish hotel stays. She falsely claimed her father was a diplomat or an oil baron and falsified bank records.<\/p>\n

Her ruse included an application for a $22 million loan to fund a private arts club, complete with exhibitions, installations and pop-up shops, prosecutors said. She was denied that loan but persuaded one bank to lend her $100,000 that she failed to repay.<\/p>\n

In all, prosecutors accused her of stealing some $275,000, including a $35,400 bill she failed to pay for a plane she chartered to and from the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. She went to great lengths to ensure others paid her way, even as she had \u201cnot a cent to her name, as far as we can determine,\u201d prosecutor Catherine McCaw said following\u00a0Sorokin’s arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn ordinary person would just take coach,\u201d McCaw told Kiesel at Thursday’s hearing. \u201cThe defendant did not want an ordinary life, and she was willing to steal in order to get that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jury convicted\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0of four counts of theft of services, three counts of grand larceny and one count of attempted grand larceny.<\/p>\n

Jurors acquitted her of two counts, including an allegation that she promised a friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $62,000 bill. She was also found not guilty of one of the most serious charges in the indictment: attempting to steal more than $1 million from City National Bank.<\/p>\n

Spodek argued that\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0had been \u201cbuying time\u201d and always intended to settle her debts. He portrayed her as an ambitious entrepreneur and said she lacked criminal intent.<\/p>\n

McCaw rejected that characterization, saying\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0showed \u201calmost no remorse\u201d throughout the proceedings. The prosecutor said\u00a0Sorokin\u00a0seemed to revel at the plight of her victims and showed more concern for her attire than the emotions of those she hurt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0Anna\u00a0Sorokin, the German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle banks, hotels and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":213596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-213595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-jim-mustian","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213597,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213595\/revisions\/213597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}