Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The New York corrections department has released a woman who posed as a German heiress to swindle thousands of dollars out of Manhattan's elite society.
Anna Sorokin left the Albion Correctional Facility in Western New York on Thursday after serving less than two years of a sentence that called for four to 12 years in prison.
Sorokin was granted early release due to good behavior.
A New York jury found Sorokin guilty in April 2019 of second-degree grand larceny, theft and attempted grand larceny.
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Prosecutors said Sorokin, a Russian national, pretended to be a German heiress who went by the name Anna Delvey. They said she lived a luxurious life among Manhattan's socialite circles all while defrauding some $275,000 from banks, hotels and friends while claiming she had a trust fund worth $67 million, prosecutors said.
Sorokin's attorney, Todd Spodek, said his client's methods may have been unethical but they weren't illegal. He said she intended to pay everyone back and only allowed people to believe what they wanted to.
The New York Post reported that Sorokin signed a $320,000 deal selling the rights to her life story to Netflix. About $200,000 of that went to restitution. The outlet said she expects to be deported to Germany.
Sorokin has posted four times to her Instagram account -- under the name Delvey -- since her release Thursday. One post includes a black-and-white photo of her, apparently in bed and wearing sunglasses with the caption, "Prison is so exhausting, you wouldn't know."
