♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, socialite scammer. she came, she captivated, and she conned new york's elite. >> prosecutors said your story was lie after lie after lie. >> of course they would say slide, that's their job to accuse me of more crimes. >> creating a richer persona by inventing "anna." >> anna is a masterpiece, bitches. >> the socialite scammer who claimed to be a german heiress, swindling new york's salviest and most powerful out of hundreds of thousands. now her high-end schemes have created high-end problems, facing deportation. her fight to stay in the u.s. with her dedated supporters trying to keep her stateside.

>> hi, guys. >> anna, you're a hero. >> anna, will you marry me? >> what is it about her twisted tale that continues to intrigue the country years after she was convicted? and now most admired alum!

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tonight, the tale of a scam that brought the trappings of extreme wealth and privilege followed by an epic downfall from the elite world she duped. reinventing herself as anna delvey, she became a german heiress who conned new york's most influential. her charade captured the nation, even inspiring a buzz worthy netflix series. here's abc's deborah roberts. >> prosecutors said your story was lie after lie after lie. that's what they told the jury. >> of course they would say slide, that's their job to accuse me of all crimes. >> reporter: a story fascinating as it was criminal, anna delvey, socialite or charlatan? german heiress or grifting con artist who captivated new york city's elite? maintaining an image of fabulous success until it all came crashing down. >> people can't look away. and they love to see a train wreck. they love to hate people, like

reality stars. into that category. rkin falls - >> this is a story of a woman that pretended to be someone she's not. >> she was taking people for a ride. she didn't do an honest day's work. the way she was living, dishing out 100-dollar tips, living out of hotels, she was living like she had that sort of money. >> how she supported that, i have no [ muted ] idea. >> reporter: after a short lifetime spent indulging in the best money could buy, delvey, real name anna sorkin -- >> this morning, the fate of an alleged scam artist is in the hands of a jury. >> reporter: was forced to face the web of lies she created. >> a new york city jury finding socialite anna sorkin, the so-called soho grifter, guilty on eight counts including grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, and theft of services. >> when you hear guilty, what do you think? >> deal with the consequences.

cry? i don't know. >> reporter: now her saga immortalized in dramatic fashion by netflix in the hit show "inventing anna." >> anna delvey is a masterpiece, bitches. >> reporter: all while sorkin languishes in detention again, held by authorities awaiting detorttation for germany. while she fights for yet another chance and her fans form a quiet resistance, hoping for the saga of anna delvey to continue. >> there was something about anna. she knew which people she needed to make people feel important. she had this sort of aura about her, she's intriguing and she used that. >> reporter: new york city. here, madison avenue meets wall street finance. and it's here in the early part of the last decade where we find a young anna sorkin, born in russia, raised in germany, transplanted to the big apple to find her american dream. how did you meet anna delvey? >> i met her out one night in

new york. i was out with friends. she just joined us late that evening. i certainly wish i had never met her. >> reporter: at the time, rachel deloche williams was a picture editor at "vanity fair." during her time at the magazine she meets anna, an unlikely friendship takes root. >> what were your first impressions? >> she was slightly offbeat. she was quirky. her voice was high pitched. she had a hard to place accent. >> they were both young in their 20s. they both recently moved to new york. and they wanted to be in circles they didn't really belong to. >> i liked her. so we had a lot of fun together. >> these two formed a friendship. and anna portrayed herself as having a lot of money and living a very lavish lifestyle. rachel was into that. >> reporter: anna's backstory is mired in mystery. those around her believed her to be an heiress to a vast fortune overseas which was often supported by her tendency to

spend lappishly on opulent dinners, tips, and nights out with friends. you would pay for things mostly when you two went out, why? >> well, she gave me an impression that she only made about $60,000, $70,000. it's not a big deal for me to pick up a tab which is a couple hundred dollars. i thought it was a nice thing to do. >> rachel fell hook, line, and sinker for the narrative that she was in line to inherit tens of millions of dollars. >> people have asked, were there red flags? they never questioned that she was who she said she was. i never had reason to, i wouldn't have thought that way. >> reporter: beneath mysteries existed a sobering truth about who the real anna delvey was. and she was no heiress. no, far away from manhattan's skyscrap skyscrapers, anna's story began in a small town thousands of miles away in russia. what was your childhood like? were you happy?

>> yes. i grew up as a single child until my parents had another kid when i was almost 13. i kind of see myself as a single child because i grew up by myself. >> how did you wind up in germany as a family? >> my dad always worked in germany, so we just moved with him at some point. >> anna lived in germany in eschweiler, which is sort of like upstate new york. to her, it was very boring. >> what did your parents do? >> my dad, he is like in infrared heating, solar energy business right now. >> your mom? >> my mom is working with him. >> hard-working people, good people. certainly not rolling in dough. >> she clearly felt she was above it and was a woman who dreamed far bigger than her horizons. >> reporter: those dreams would take anna to paris, pursuing her lifelong interest in fashion. she eventually got a position at a glossy magazine called

"purple." and before long, anna sorkin transformed into anna delvey. where's the name delvey come from? >> i just came up with it. >> you made it up? >> yep. >> it's not a family name? >> no. >> you liked that better than sorkin? >> yes. >> were you trying to escape something? >> i think it was about a new beginning and doing something new, as opposed to, like, escaping anything. >> escape or no escape, next thing you know anna crosses the ocean. she jumps into new york. becomes anna delvey, this larger-than-life persona. >> reporter: in new york, anna creates a new life, immersing herself into the opulence and affluence of life in the fashion and finance capital of the world. >> during that time, i learned that she was working on an art foundation. club, restaurant. just everything. and the concept was very interesting and impressive, and she referred to this family chest she had, which i didn't

pry about, but it sort of informed my understanding of her. >> reporter: and splurging on fabulous vacations. >> since anna was a german citizen, she needed to leave every three months in order to reset the visa. and instead of going back home to germany, she suggested we take a trip somewhere warm. >> me and rachel kind of brainstormed wear we should stay. we came up with marrakech. >> this is some stunning, top of the line, dripping in gold resort with butlers and private everything. it's a resort that's built for the 1%. >> your eyes muf been popping out of your head. >> absolutely. it was -- i mean, it was amazing, until it wasn't. >> anna right from the get-go said she's paying. >> reporter: but when it's time to settle the bill, anna's credit cards aren't going through. hotel employees corner the women. >> and the men say, do you have a credit card? so i look at anna, she's like, can we just use it for now?

>> she hands over her personal card, and she also hands over her corporate card. >> i leave early on friday morning. when i land, i get a text message that the whole bill is being charged to my cards. >> how much this. >> $62,000. >> $62,000? >> she owed me more money than i made in a year. >> at this stage, you don't have the money to pay rachel? >> no. >> how is she responding? >> she had a billion and one excuses. i was suspicious at that point. >> reporter: when one domino falls, so do the rest. before long, anna's con began to unravel piece by piece. >> anna relied on her credit card to pay things. so she wasn't able to fulfill other obligations like a hotel bill. >> july 2017, she is arrested for the first time and it's for theft of services. it relates to three things in new york. unpaid bills at the beekman, at the "w" hotel, and at la park

meridi meridian. >> it's her first arrest, everything starts to unravel. >> that's when the story hits the "new york post." the wannabe socialite becomes a tabloid sensation. >> you eventually go to the district attorney's office. what do you learn? >> i learn that there's an ongoing investigation into anna delvey, whose real name is anna sorkin. >> remember, anna was supposed to be opening this arts foundation. she went to banks and told them she had money overseas. the banks never gave anna the loans, but she did get a line of credit. and prosecutors say she used that money and bad checks in order to fund her lavish lifestyle. >> this lavish lifestyle that anna had been living, it all comes crashing down. her lodgings are rikers correctional facility. >> reporter: delvey is charged with ten different counts and found guilty on eight of them, including second degree grand larceny and theft of services.

she's sentenced to four to 12 years in state prison and ordered to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution. you're there for 19 months. >> yes. >> did you have celebrity status in jail? >> i definitely did, yes. >> then you strike a netflix deal. >> sorkin's case capturing hollywood's attention. "grey's anatomy" creator shonda rhimes behind an upcoming project for netflix. >> she was offered over $300,000 for the deal. >> i felt like it was the only way to tell my story. >> most people go to trial to be found not guilty. she went to trial for the story. about. >> reporter: when we come back, out of prison, but out of time. just as anna delvey's story becomes a national sensation, her fight to stay in the country. stay with us.

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"nightline" continues with deborah roberts. >> reporter: anna sorokin, the captivating conwoman detained by the u.s. government. she's waiting to be deported home to germany for overstaying her visa. but she's not leaving without a fight. though in custody, anna's still the ringmaster of her own media circus, harnessing her notoriety in an attempt to stay in the u.s. when anna was released from prison and paroled in february of 2021, her lawyers hoped she'd keep a low profile. but sorokin saw a chance to rebuild her brand. >> anna was intent to continue with her anna delvey persona.

there was a day at the end of march where she knew to talk to an immigration officer. >> i said to her, lay low, get off of parole, sort out your immigration affairs, and then you'll have plenty of time to build whatever you want to build. but lo and behold, anna is not one to heed my advice, and she decided to do what she wanted to do. >> you're just a few weeks out of prison, yet you're still active on social media. >> yes. >> she was giving interviews on social media. really living the high life. pictures on instagram of drinking champagne in a footed tub. the whole gamut. >> sins are forgiven! >> reporter: her spending on parole financed by that $320,000 deal she made with netflix and show runner shonda rhimes, selling the rights to her story for the series "inventing anna." >> she is everything that is wrong with america right now. >> hey, i'm famous.

people want a public picture of me. that's not my story. >> then what is your story? >> reporter: her fashion style, schemes, and unique accent -- >> don't crowd my entrance. >> reporter: played by emmy winner jewel that garner. >> she still has a european accent but the delivery is american. >> i'd rather hang out at a mcdonald's. >> it was really hard. i literally had to have an accent with different accents. >> reporter: the series a netflix hit, becoming a staggering success within the first two weeks of its release. >> so dramatic. >> you have someone who is a convicted criminal and a con artist who is currently sitting behind bars. everybody knows her name. people are talking about her on twitter. and she has all of these hollywood projects with major hollywood names behind them. >> reporter: anna was set to be deported back to germany this past monday. her lawyers filing an emergency

injunction to stop it. but even in detention, anna's continuing to get the word out. last week calling into spotify's "caller daddy" podcast from orange county correctional facility. >> do you consider yourself a con artist? >> absolutely not. >> to people that are saying you are, what do you think is the difference between you and a con artist? >> well, i never, like, intended criminally to criminally harm anybody. you know? i literally cannot come up, like, with a single example where i'm like, yeah, let me [ bleep ] this person over and they'll never see, like, their money ever again. >> a lot of people actually look up to her, even though she is a convicted criminal. some people love anna sorokin. some people love to hate her. and some people just absolutely hate her. but some people view her as somewhat of a feminist hero. >> reporter: we witnessed the support she's getting from some

here on the lower east side of manhattan at this bustling art gallery. the art this new exhibition entitled "free anna." mostly inspired by anna sorokin herself. >> so i appreciate anna delvey as a princess and the official title of the drawing in pastel is called "her royal highness, princess anoska, anna delvey." >> reporter: while the do you remember fors acknowledge anna's criminal conviction, one-quarter of the gallery's proceeds are going to her continuing legal fees. >> she served her time, paid for her crimes, you know? at the end of the day, i want to free anna delvey so she can figure out what she wants to do next with her life. >> reporter: as the evening came to a close, anna joined the crowd, calling from detention to thank her supporters. >> hello, anna. >> hi, how are you? >> we're good. there's a big crowd here.

[ cheers and applause ] >> hi, guys! i hope you're enjoying the night. >> anna, you're a hero. >> anna, will you marry me? i'm a u.s. citizen! >> yes, well, thank you so much for your support, i hope your enjo the night. i can't wait to see all the pictures and videos. >> anna, we're going to bust you out! we're going to get you that u.s. visa, you just stay strong! >> stay strong, anna! >> reporter: though anna's days in the u.s. may be limited, her global reach isn't. >> she will definitely continue to do whatever she wants to do. she does have a career in pop culture ahead of her. anna sorokin definitely can make a comeback. she will figure out a way to capitalize off of this renewed attention and off of this fame, and she'll likely cash in.

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♪ that's "nightline" for tonight. watch all our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time next monday. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. have a great weekend. care coalition, it's so good to see you all! alright! let's brainstorm. any ideas for new members? i'd like to nominate alaska airlines. this neck pillow i'm dating says great things!