Anna Sorokin fooled New York's high society, was convicted as a fraudster and received a memorial with the Netflix series "Inventing Anna". Since April 2021, the false heiress of millions with German-Russian roots has been in custody pending deportation in the US state of New York. She should now be released from this in a timely manner, as reported by US media.
A court ordered the 31-year-old to be released on $10,000 bail. "We are very pleased with the court's decision today to release Anna Sorokin. The judge rightly recognized that Anna is not a threat to the community," her lawyer Duncan Levin told the Daily Beast portal a few final hurdles to clear, including posting bail.
In addition to the bail, the release is linked to other strict conditions. Sorokin is under complete house arrest, under electronic surveillance and not allowed to use any social media. Sorokin has a million followers on Instagram alone. It remains to be seen whether she will be allowed to stay in the USA or will be deported to Germany.
For years, Sorokin had posed as the heiress of millions in New York's high society and cheated acquaintances, banks and hotels out of a six-figure sum. After her 2019 conviction, she was released early from prison in 2021. But just a few weeks later, she was arrested again by US immigration officials because her visa had expired. Since then she has been in custody and is legally defending herself against deportation.
Sorokin is pleased with her release and will now focus on appealing the unjustified deportation decision, said her attorney, Duncan Levin. However, the social media ban should definitely hurt her. Sorokin has already made good use of her public celebrity. The Netflix fees helped compensate their victims. Most recently, she promoted some paintings made in prison, which were even exhibited in a gallery.
Judge Charles Conroy stated in his reasoning for dismissal that he saw no great risk of absconding with Sorokin. "She will have to comply with the terms of release imposed on her by both the New York State Parole Board and immigration authorities, which, coupled with her status as a public figure, will make it particularly difficult for her to evade detection " said Conroy. "For all of these reasons, the court considers that [Sorokin's] risk of absconding is sufficiently reduced."
Sources: Daily Beast / Bloomberg / Variety
