Anna Delvey returns to Instagram after judge ruling

The convicted con artist was placed on house arrest in 2021 after two years behind bars

Kaleigh Werner
New York
Monday 19 August 2024 19:16 BST
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Judge allows Anna Delvey to return to social media
Judge allows Anna Delvey to return to social media

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A judge has allowed Anna Delvey, the convicted con artist, to return to social media.

According to Page Six, the 33 year old, whose real name is Anna Sorkin, has been permitted to reactivate her social media presence.

In 2018, Delvey was charged with two counts of attempted grand larceny in the first degree, three counts of grand larceny in the second degree, and one count of grand larceny in the third degree. Two years later, she was found guilty, placed in jail, and convicted of one count of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny, and four counts of theft services.

Posing as a fake heiress and stealing over $200,000 from businesses, banks, and friends, Delvey spent two years in prison before she was released on house arrest for overstaying her visa. Since the fraudster was born in Russia before she emigrated with her parents to Germany, the judge ordered her to stay in her New York City apartment for 24 hours each day as she waited to see whether she would be deported to Germany.

Now, the court has decided to lift her social media ban that had been imposed with her house arrest. According to Page Six, the judge ruled to let Delvey return online on August 16.

Anna Delvey was convicted of attempted grand larceny, grand larceny, and theft services
Anna Delvey was convicted of attempted grand larceny, grand larceny, and theft services (Getty Images)

“I would like to thank the United States government court system and especially my lawyers John Sandweg and Catherine Hunstad for fighting for my First Amendment rights. I’m also grateful and thrilled to be able to control my own narrative once again on social media,” Delvey told the outlet.

When the judge first enacted her social media ban, Delvey’s attorneys condemned the restrictions. They said the social media rulings “serve absolutely no purpose in mitigating any flight risk or threat to the community that Ms Sorokin may present and clearly violate her constitutional rights.”

Yet even though the famed Manhattan con artist couldn’t post online, her image, whereabouts, and business workings circulated. During the September 2023 fashion week in New York, Delvey made headlines with her exclusive, after-hours fashion show staged at her apartment building.

On September 11, 2023, she welcomed the city’s elite on top of her East Village apartment to sit for an unofficial runway presentation for designer Shao Yang’s Shao New York. The show was just as much of Yang’s collection debut as it was Delvey’s agency opener with Kelly Catrone.

The two powerhouse fashion icons have teamed together to create the OutLaw Agency, a pop-up production business to promote new designers in the fashion industry. Delvey stepped out for a court appearance earlier this year, donning Shao New York.

She made waves for her chic, funky formal attire on X, formerly known as Twitter. Delvey paired her ankle monitor with an oversized blazer, a white button-up, a velvet tie, and a black pencil skirt with a slit.

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