Is socialite fraudster Sorokin still a con artist?

 

I’ve written about Anna Sorokin as well as  other imposters and con artists here. And I’ve also written about innumerable psychopaths on this website.

Is Anna Sorokin a psychopath?

Here’s the question needing to be addressed right off if you want a quick answer to whether Sorokin is still a con artist: Is she a psychopath?

I’m not sure if she is. However, she’s likely a type from the three inter-related Triad diagnoses which includes – narcissists, Machiavellians  (manipulators), and psychopaths.

If she is a psychopath, then she is surely still a con artist. That’s because psychopaths are notoriously incapable of changing or being rehabilitated by partners,  friends, therapists,  or – especially– prison personnel.

The Inventing Anna Netflix series.

Inventing Anna is out now on Netflix, and tells the story of how the Russian-born Anna Sorokin (played by Julia Garner) pretended to be a German heiress named Anna Delvey. She  cheated her way into New York high society, and became a convicted scammer. I’ve only seen two episodes, and so I’ll defer to those who’ve seen them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Newsweek, “The Netflix series takes us through her trial, with the story of how she got there told in flashbacks along the way. By the end of the last episode, Sorokin has been found guilty for some of her crimes.

That was in May 2019, however, and plenty has happened since then, which Inventing Anna only gets into with a title card. For example, Sorokin was briefly a free woman, before getting taken into custody again for a different reason.”

What happened to Sorokin after Inventing Anna?

The title card update, or epilogue, for Inventing Anna  reads:

“Anna was released from prison on February 11, 2021. A month later, she was taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa.”

Again, according to Newsweek, “Sorokin had been found guilty of grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, and theft of service for the thousands of dollars she owed to various hotels and a private jet company.

“In 2019, she was sentenced to between four and 12 years in jail. Her sentence included the time she had spent in prison since first being arrested, meaning that she was released after four years behind bars in 2021. She was released early due to good behavior after spending 19 months in jail at Rikers Island in NY City and 21 months in prison at NY’s Albion Correctional Facility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TV series about Anna certainly fed Sorokin’s ego…and her Gucci pocketbook. As a consultant to the series, she earned enough money to start paying off her legal debts and  obligations.

While free briefly, Sorokin worked at managing “her brand,” blogging on her (now defunct) website about her time in prison, and (oddly) writing an open letter to convicted sexual predator, Harvey Weinstein. She compared her time in prison to that of the disgraced film producer while also taking jabs at the press for their reporting on celebrity inmates.

Sorokin has said of her time in custody: “It’s about who you know. It’s kind of like the scene in New York, but amplified. Because if you know the right officers, they’re going to get you the right job. And so I had a job in a gym because I just wanted to work out when no one else would go.”

So, what’s your answer: Is Sorkin still a con artist?

It doesn’t take much more evidence than Sorokin words quoted above to answer this question. While incarcerated, she cooly assessed “the game” played in prison just as she had the one played by NY City socialites. She schmoozed the right guards in order to get the right job. The job that would let her work out. Like a psychopath, she did whatever it took to get what she wanted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As noted, six weeks after she was freed, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) arrested her. Per some journalists, she was taken to a county jail in New Jersey.

There are references to Sorokin overstaying her visa in Inventing Anna. One comes, for example, when journalist Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky) speculates that Sorokin may have gone to rehab because it counted as residential care, which would have temporarily postponed her visa running out.

According to some, the initial plan was for Sorokin to be deported back to Germany the day after her arrest, but it didn’t happen. She’s fighting deportation at this time.Her lawyer, Todd Spodek (Arian Moayed in the series), has said he believes she will eventually be deported.

Challenging Her Conviction

In an article for Insider, Sorokin said, “My visa overstay was unintentional and largely out of my control…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.” She also notes that she is challenging her criminal conviction.

In the same  article  Sorokin includes her reaction to the Netflix series about her, for which she was reportedly paid $320,000.

In January 2022, Sorokin was diagnosed with Covid while she was being held in a correctional facility north west of NYC. She said of this: “I’m sure I’ll live, but I haven’t been this sick in years.

“The jail’s response to a positive test is to just lock you up. It’s convenient for them…The staff insists on using the words ‘medical isolation,’ even though there’s nothing medical about it. One is simply being made to sit in a cell with a hole in the door.”

Do you think Sorokin’s continuing to scam the system?

 

My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.