Where is Anna Delvey now? The real-life fraudster who inspired Inventing Anna
The true-crime drama has arrived on Netflix but where is the real Anna Delvey now and is she still in prison?
New Netflix true crime series Inventing Anna has landed on the streamer with a bang.
The series follows the crimes and exploits of real-life fraudster Anna Sorokin (better known as Anna Delvey), a Russian-born socialite scammer (who is played by Julia Garner in the Netflix series) who conned her way into New York society and made them believe she was a German heiress – all while scamming hotels, banks and her ‘friends’.
As seen in the Netflix series, which is modelled on the wild true story of Anna Delvey, Sorokin was convicted on multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, grand larceny and theft of services, for which she was sentenced to between four and 12 years imprisonment back in 2019.
In the final episode of the series, we learn that Sorokin was released from prison on 11th February 2021 and a month later, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying her visa.
In an interview ahead of the Netflix show’s release, Sorokin spoke to The New York Times about her life: “My cell is pretty depressing. I have a whole bin of just legal paperwork. I have lots of books — mainly books. And some trail mix to snack on. It is as austere as it can get."
Read on for everything you need to know about Delvey’s escapades – and what she’s up to now.
Where is Anna Delvey/ Sorokin now?
In 2019, Netflix paid Sorokin $320,000 for the rights to her life story, with Insider reporting in 2021 that she used $199,000 to pay restitution to banks and $24,000 to settle state fines.
The New York Attorney General's office sued Sorokin shortly after Netflix acquired the rights to her story, citing the Son of Sam law which prohibits those convicted from profiting from publicity of their crime.
The Office of Victim Services therefore froze a $140,000 advance Netflix paid to Sorokin and allowed the banks to pursue recovery action, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Is Anna Delvey in prison in 2022?
As of the beginning of February, Sorokin is still in ICE detention awaiting deportation to Germany at Orange County Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
"I paid off the restitution from my criminal case in full to the banks I took money from," she told Insider from behind bars. "I also accomplished more in the six weeks they deemed were long enough for me to remain free than some people have in the past two years.
"My visa overstay was unintentional and largely out of my control. I served my prison sentence, but I'm appealing my criminal conviction to clear my name. I did not break a single one of New York state's or ICE's parole rules. Despite all that, I've yet to be given a clear and fair path to compliance."
On 19th January, Sorokin tested positive for COVID-19 and has been in Orange County Correctional Facility's quarantine isolation. "I'm sure I'll live, but I haven't been this sick in years," she said.
Sorokin's last ICE bond hearing took place in October 2021 and she is currently waiting to hear whether she will be deported to Germany.
What has Anna Delvey said about Inventing Anna?
Speaking to Insider from behind bars, Delvey added that she has no plans to watch Inventing Anna, saying that even if she were able to from jail, "nothing about seeing a fictionalised version of myself in this criminal-insane-asylum setting sounds appealing to me".
Delvey sold her life rights to the show’s creators for $320,000 and used part of the money to pay restitution to the banks as well as to settle state fines, according to Insider.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan, she said of Inventing Anna: "This will override reality. It’s weird to watch your own life owned by somebody else. It's a good exercise in letting go."
She continued: "It’s like lots of people in your life telling you what they think of you, all at the same time. Turns out, most of the time we don’t want to know what people really think of us."
As for how she felt about the portrayal of herself in the show, she recalled thinking after watching the trailer: "Am I that insufferable? I don’t feel like I could ever be friends with myself."
Inventing Anna is streaming on Netflix. Check out our guides to the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or find out what else is on with our TV Guide.
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