Anna Sorokin, the Russian-German “faux celebrity” sentenced to years in prison by a U.S. court, has been released early from prison in New York. According to New York State Department of Corrections records, Sorokin was released from prison on parole Thursday. She herself posted a photo on the social media platform Instagram of herself sitting on a bed wearing sunglasses, writing, “You can’t imagine what it’s like to be in prison.”
Born in Russia to an ordinary father who was a truck driver, Sorokin, 30, moved to Germany with her Family when she was 16. In 2016, Sorokin moved to the United States and assumed the name AnnaDelvey to mingle in New York’s high society and portray herself as a rich kid, maintaining a lavish lifestyle by scamming people out of money. The total amount of money Sorokin defrauded amounted to about $275,000 (about 227,000 euros).
Prosecutors noted that Sorokin used clever lies as well as a confident demeanor to obtain tens of thousands of dollars in loans from different banks between November 2016 and August 2017 to pay for private jet trips and months of fancy hotel stays in New York’s Manhattan neighborhood.
In addition, Sorokin had falsified documents to propose a loan of $22 million to banks under the pretext that he wanted to open an art club combining a nightclub and an art gallery. An influential builder had even been prepared to build her a building on New York’s Park Avenue.
In May 2019, a Manhattan, New York jury found Sorokin guilty of four counts of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, and Sorokin faces a sentence of four to 12 years. According to U.S. media reports, the appeals board agreed to allow Sorokin’s early release, taking into account her good behavior while serving her sentence and the Time she spent in detention before officially serving her sentence. Sorokin’s lawyer, Audrey Thomas, stressed to AFP that Sorokin did not receive any special treatment. She did not say whether Sorokin would be deported to Germany.
Sorokin posted on IG: “You can’t imagine how torturous it is in prison.”
The “fake celebrity” scam has gained a lot of attention in the United States. ShondaRhimes, a Gold medalist American screenwriter, has acquired the rights to turn Sorokin’s story into a Netflix series starring actress Julia Garner. According to Insider, Netflix paid Sorokin a $320,000 licensing fee. HBO is also interested in turning Sorokin’s experience into a movie.
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