A judge wouldn't release 'fake heiress' Anna Sorokin after ICE argued her Instagram shows she isn't rehabilitated, lawyer says
Anna Sorokin's lawyer said a judge ruled Tuesday that the scammer will remain in ICE custody.
A parole board granted her release, but the lawyer said the judge called her a "danger to society."
Sorokin, a German national and convicted scammer, may soon be deported.
An immigration judge ruled Tuesday that Anna Sorokin won't be released from custody, according to her lawyer - siding with an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorney who said her Instagram posts show she hasn't been rehabilitated.
Audrey A. Thomas, an attorney representing Sorokin - who also goes by the name Anna Delvey - told Insider the judge determined she should remain in Bergen County jail in New Jersey and called her a "danger to society."
Sorokin, a German national, was released from prison in February following three years behind bars. She was convicted on several counts in May 2019 for a scheme where she pretended to be a wealthy heiress to bilk financial institutions and individuals out of their money while she rose through Manhattan's SoHo social scene.
A parole board determined Sorokin could be released from prison early and report to parole until the end of her sentence, court records reviewed by Insider show. But ICE took her into its own custody on March 25 while the Department of Homeland Security determines whether to deport her to Germany.
Thomas told Insider that at a detention hearing Tuesday, ICE attorney Susan Egan argued Sorokin should be kept in custody because of a BBC News report headlined "Fake heiress Anna Sorokin: 'Crime pays, in a way.'" A representative for ICE declined comment.
Sorokin has pursued several business ventures since her release from prison - including a merchandise line and plans to sell NFT tokens - and received $320,000 from a Netflix deal, though most of the money has gone to paying her victims.
Thomas said the BBC article misrepresented Sorokin, who was trying to say that she never asked for the widespread attention being paid to her.
"It's not like she was bragging, saying crime paid off for her," Thomas said. "[Egan] talked about Anna's recent posts on Instagram, and that they mean she hasn't been rehabilitated."
Sorokin's recent Instagram posts mainly promote of press coverage of herself. In another post, she called New York City "lawless."
Thomas is representing Sorokin in her immigration case as well as the appeal for her criminal case. She said Sorokin's continued detention illustrates the pitfalls of the US immigration system.
"I have two guys who came here illegally," she said. "One of them had 150 pounds of weed, got deported, came back illegally and immigration let him out. And they're keeping Anna."
"I have a guy who was charged with a home invasion, got out on bond, absconded, and then came back," she added. "Then they caught him and immigration just let him out. And he has an open criminal case."
Read the original article on Insider
