A judge has sentenced the fake German heiress Anna Sorokin to four to 12 years in prison for defrauding hotels, restaurants, a private jet operator and banks out of more than $200,000. Judge Diane Kiesel said she was “stunned by the depth of the defendant’s deception, her labyrinthine lies that kept her con afloat” at the sentencing on Thursday afternoon in Manhattan state court. As she handed down sentence, Kiesel reportedly made a reference to Bruce Springsteen’s song Blinded by the Light. “She was blinded by the glitter and glamour of New York City,” the judge said, according to BuzzFeed News. Sorokin, a would-be art collector, planned to open a members-only arts club but became known as the “Soho grifter” after her deception upon New York’s glitzy social scene came to light. Sorokin, 28, was found guilty last month of grand larceny and theft of services. During the trial she was admonished for throwing tantrums when she couldn’t get her stylist-curated outfits, and drew unflattering sketches of the lead prosecutor during testimony. But at sentencing she was humbled. Wearing a long-sleeved black dress, she told the judge: “I apologize for the mistakes I made.” Sorokin’s story became a media sensation, and she received lengthy profiles in magazines and reams of tabloid coverage. A TV series about her life was also planned. Today in Focus Anna Sorokin: the fake heiress who fooled everyone – podcast Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2020/05/05-61553-gnl.fw.200505.jf.ch7DW.mp3 00:00:00 00:27:27 At the trial, prosecutors said she overdrew a bank account and forged financial records to further the ruse that she perpetrated under the name Anna Delvey. The jury agreed she had fraudulently maneuvered herself into “the best position to take money” from a social milieu of wealthy collectors, dealers and auctioneers. Prosecutors said Sorokin’s ambition was to “live the fantasy of an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means”. But her lawyers argued that Sorokin was hardly unique in understanding that superficial glamour was key to acceptance in the circles she aspired to join. “Fake it until you make it,” explained her lawyer, Todd Spodek. He conceded that his client’s practice was unethical but, he claimed, not illegal because she planned to pay everyone back. “Any millennial will tell you,” he said, “it is not uncommon to have delusions of grandeur.” The jury rejected some of the charges against her, including an alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain a $22m (£17m) loan, and an accusation that she had swindled $60,000 from a friend who had paid for a lavish trip to Morocco. Prosecutors told the court Sorokin now has barely “a cent to her name”. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has said it will seek to deport Sorokin, who was born in Russia, to Germany following her release from state custody. Ice said Sorokin overstayed her 2017 visa.<doc-sep>Carlos Osorio/Pool/AFP/Getty Images A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)<doc-sep>NEW YORK (AP) — A German con artist who was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for swindling banks, hotels and wealthy New Yorkers says she's not sorry for anything she did. "The thing is, I'm not sorry," Anna Sorokin told The New York Times in a jailhouse interview Friday. "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." Prosecutors said Sorokin, a 28-year-old who was born in Russia, used a fake identity as a German heiress named Anna Delvey to scam victims out of more than $200,000. They said she defrauded financial institutions and socialites into believing she had a fortune of $67 million (60 million euros). They said her ruse included an application for a $22 million loan to fund a private arts club, complete with exhibitions, installations and pop-up shops. She was denied that loan but persuaded one bank to lend her $100,000 that she failed to repay. Sorokin was convicted last month on multiple counts of larceny and theft and has been in custody since her October 2017 arrest. Her sentencing Thursday capped a spectacular case that drew international attention and tabloid headlines. Netflix and HBO are both working on shows based on Sorokin's scams. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has said it will seek to deport Sorokin to Germany following her release from state prison. Sorokin apologized "for the mistakes I made" at her sentencing Thursday, but she struck a different tone in two interviews with the Times at the Rikers Island jail complex. She said she always intended to pay back her creditors, which included banks, two hotels and a private jet company. In an interview about a week before her sentencing, Sorokin conceded that she had falsified some bank records but said it was only because she had a big dream. She said she had wanted to start a $40 million private club, and potential investors pushed her to open it before they would put up their own money. Story continues Sorokin said she never told her wealthy friends that she had millions of dollars, they just assumed it. Sorokin did admit to the Times, "I'm not a good person." ___ Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com<doc-sep>According to court documents, Sorokin used her phony persona as a German heiress with $60m in assets to try to get a loan of $22m for a foundation in her name. She presented forged bank statements and would deposit bad cheques, then withdraw the money before they bounced.<doc-sep>
A woman who was once a figure on New York's social scene by pretending to be a German heiress and swindling her friends and businesses out of tens of thousands of dollars was sentenced Thursday to at least four years in prison. Anna Sorokin, 28, who used the name Anna Delvey for her ruses, was convicted last month by a Manhattan jury on four counts of theft services, three counts of grand larceny and one count of attempted grand larceny. She was acquitted of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, according to The Associated Press. New York Judge Diane Kiesel sentenced Sorokin on Thursday to four to 12 years in prison, saying she was “stunned by the depth of the defendant’s deception." Prosecutors said Sorokin convinced friends and businesses to give her money to fund her lavish lifestyle by falsely claiming that her father was a diplomat or an oil baron, and she had a fortune of more than $60 million overseas. In one instance, she promised a friend an all-expense-paid trip to Morocco but left her pal with the $62,000 bill, prosecutors alleged. Download the NBC News app for breaking news Another time, Sorokin persuaded a bank to lend her $100,000, which she never paid back. Sorokin, who faces deportation back to Germany because authorities said she overstayed her visa, was also accused of forging financial documents in an attempt to get a $22 million loan for a private arts club she wanted to open. Sorokin's lies allowed her to steal around $275,000, including a $35,400 bill for a flight she chartered to and from Nebraska, prosecutors said. Before Kiesel handed down the sentence, Sorokin addressed the court, saying, “I apologize for the mistakes I made.” Her attorney, Todd Spodek, previously said she planned to repay her debts and was merely "buying time."