Anna Sorokin, faux heiress, is released from prison

She was originally tried in 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in jail, including the two she had already served in Rikers Island

According to New York State Department of Corrections records, faux socialite Anna Sorokin was released on Thursday from the Albion Correctional Facility in upstate New York. The news was first reported by Insider.

Ms Sorokin, a German citizen, posed as an heiress named Anna Delvey with a $60m trust fund. She scammed banks, hotels, wealthy friends, and financial institutions before being arrested in 2017 on charges of grand larceny. She was tried in 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in prison, including the two she had already served in Rikers Island.

She has, however, been granted early release on parole for good behaviour.

Ms Sorokin is now using $199,000 from Netflix, who bought her story rights, to pay restitution to the banks she scammed, plus $24,000 in state fines.

New York State invoked its “Son of Sam” law, which is meant to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes, by freezing Ms Sorokin's funds in 2019, but they have since been unfrozen.

Though she has already paid restitution to certain banks, Ms Sorokin's lawyer in the appellate case, Audrey A Thomas, says that while her client believes she owes money, she doesn't think she ever stole it.

“She said, 'You know, I want them to be paid. I didn't steal the money, but I do owe money, so I'm not going to fight it. That's not who I am,'” Ms Thomas said.

The forthcoming Netflix series, Inventing Anna, where Ms Sorokin will be played by Ozark star Julia Garner, has resumed production after a delay due to the coronavirus.

Because Ms Sorokin is a German citizen, she could be deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That said, deportations have also been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and Biden coming into office.