Anna Sorokin, the "Soho grifter" who conned her way into a lavish lifestyle by defrauding people, banks, and hotels of $275,000, was sentenced to serve 4 to 12 years in prison on Thursday. "I apologize for the mistakes I made," she said in court.
She was also ordered to pay back approximately $199,000 in restitution, in addition to a $24,000 fine, reports Buzzfeed News.
The judge presiding over the Manhattan state court, Judge Diane Kiesel, said she was "stunned by the depth of the defendant's deception."
Sorokin, 28, originally faced up to 15 years in prison. Sorokin, who is a German national, will be deported by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) once her sentence is over.
Last month, she was found guilty of multiple counts of grand larceny and theft of services. As part of the grift, Sorokin allegedly falsified bank statements which she then used to convince banks to lend her money so she could keep up her luxe lifestyle, replete with travel, fine dining, shopping sprees, and living in posh New York City hotels. Sorokin went by the name Anna Delvey during her days wheeling and dealing around Manhattan, claiming that she was a German heiress and the daughter of an oil baron or diplomat (depending on who you asked) worth over $60 million.
A widely-circulated Vanity Fair article by Rachel Williams, a former friend of Sorokin's, detailed an account about how the so-called heiress invited her to Morocco on a paid trip, then had her foot the bill for a staggering $62,000 she didn't have. Jurors found her not guilty of the Morocco allegation, and of attempting to swipe $1 million from City National Bank, but did find Sorokin guilty of her attempt to get a $22 million loan with fake bank statements.
Williams later landed a book deal as well as an HBO show, and Netflix bought Sorokin's life rights for a project helmed by Shona Rhimes' Shondaland.
Spodek previously stated in court that Sorokin wasn't a criminal because she genuinely was going to pay everyone back, name-checking Frank Sinatra as he said: "Anna had to kick down the door to get her chance at life. Just like Sinatra had to do it his way, Anna had to do it her way." By contrast, prosecutors argued that Sorokin positioned herself so that she could steal money from the wealthy, to "live the fantasy of an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means."
