'Fake heiress' Anna Sorokin says she's not a 'dumb, greedy person' and felt going to trial was the only way to tell her story

ABC

• Anna Sorokin, who pretended to be a fake heiress named Anna Delvey, told ABC News that she isn't a "dumb, greedy person."
• She says she opted to go to trial instead of taking a plea deal because "it was the only way to tell my story."
• After being released from prison in February, Sorokin was taken into ICE custody.

Anna Sorokin, the German national who pretended to be a fake heiress with the name Anna Delvey, has opened up about her actions in an interview set to air on ABC News' "20/20" on Friday.

"I would like to show the world that I'm not this dumb, greedy person that they portrayed me to be," Sorokin said in a preview for the interview that was first taped after her release in February.

But Sorokin told ABC News senior national affairs correspondent Deborah Roberts that she opted to take her case to trial instead of taking a plea deal because she felt "it was the only way to tell my story."

"I never had a fraudulent intent," Sorokin told ABC News. "And I guess that's what should really count."

Sorokin was convicted in April 2019 on several counts of larceny and theft tied to a scheme in which she swindled banks and other institutions out of thousands of dollars while she lived in Manhattan.

She was sentenced to 12 years in prison, fined $24,000, and ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution.

Ultimately, she was released from prison after four years on good behavior in February, but was taken into ICE custody in March.

Sorokin's lawyer didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.