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New York Post
Anna Delvey says she doesn’t want to be a ‘spectacle’ with bedazzled ankle monitor
By Priscilla DeGregory, Jennie Taer,
3 hours ago
Anna Delvey is being a “pain” with constant complaints about her ankle monitor, according to sources — but the “Fake Heiress” told The Post it’s not about style, she just doesn’t want to be “stared at” when she goes out.
Delvey — whose real name is Anna Sorokin — has been forced to wear the GPS tracker since she was released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on $10,000 bond in October 2022 while she fights being deported to Germany.
Anna Delvey — who rose to notoriety pretending to be a German heiress and scamming people out of money — says she doesn’t want the “spectacle” that comes with wearing a GPS ankle monitor. Courtesy of Oliver Halfin
At her now-monthly ICE check-ins in New York , Delvey, 33, has been a “pain in the ass,” apparently complaining the device is “not fashionable,” according to US Department of Homeland Security sources.
“Every time I go out, what’s being written is I’m sporting the ankle bracelet or I’m flaunting it,” Delvey said. “People don’t seem to want to acknowledge that I don’t have a choice but to wear it.”
She added: “It’s just like I would not want to make such a spectacle out of this. I would love to be able to go out, and not be stared at or like not every delivery person asking me if I killed my husband, or something.”
Still, Delvey has taken to blinging out her ankle monitor, and one ICE source derisively calling her the “bedazzled b—h.”
On her way to a court appearance in June, Delvey — who is also fighting a 2019 grand larceny conviction for conning well-heeled New Yorkers and businesses out of $250,000 while posing as a German aristocrat — sported the letter “A” in rhinestones on her ankle bracelet.
Delvey is not allowed to bedazzle the gear, but was not specifically told she couldn’t do so, according to sources familiar with ICE’s monitoring program.
“I’ve been wearing one for almost two years. I think, once or twice, it’s my right to bedazzle it,” she said tongue-in-cheek, during a video interview Thursday from her business partner Kelly Cutrone’s house upstate in Cold Spring, NY.
Delvey said the jewels, “come off after one shower and they don’t interfere with anything and don’t damage the bracelet.”
“I don’t think the ankle bracelet is a bad look necessarily. I think whenever I wear it I’m able to make it work,” she added.
“I think the biggest hurdle is the over knee boots but the fall season is still upon us. So far I’ve had bigger issues to worry about.”
She’s asked ICE to provide her with a newer and more subtle alternative — the VeriWatch wrist tacker.
Immigration sources told The Post she was being a “pain” about having to wear the ankle tracker. Stephen Yang Delvey however claims it’s not about fashion for her, she just doesn’t like that people “stare” at her because of it. Courtesy of Oliver Halfin Delvey says she asked ICE to allow her to switch to a more discreet GPS watch tracker. Courtesy of Oliver Halfin
But ICE rejected her request because the judge who set her bond conditions specifically ordered her to wear an ankle monitor, she claimed.
Delvey said she plans to discuss with her lawyers potentially making a motion to the judge to swap the ankle contraption for a wrist one.
She said people associate ankle bracelets in pop culture with Lindsay Lohan — who infamously had to wear one for driving drunk — and don’t realize that someone can be saddled with one as part of an immigration case.
“But it was the least [important] thing on my list of asks,” she noted.
Delvey said that people associate ankle monitors with Lindsay Lohan — who was forced to wear one for drinking and driving — and don’t realize she wears hers for an immigration case. Emmy Park for NY Post
The so-called SoHo scammer has been pushing for fewer restrictions while she fights deportation and recently clinched wins when she was granted a social security number and the right to be able to work in the US, Page Six reported Wednesday .
She was also granted the right to be able to travel within a 75-mile radius of her home, which currently is about 60 miles from New York City.
But the question of whether she will ultimately be allowed to stay in the country long-term is still up in the air, as is whether her conviction — for which she served two years in prison — will be upheld.
Delvey has been fighting being deported to Germany for since 2021. Emmy Park for NY Post
“I feel like I have spent the majority of my adult life in the states,” Delvey explained of why she continues to fight deportation.
“All of my friends are here. All of my projects and everything I’ve been working on are here. And it would be extremely difficult for me to ever come back if I were to leave.”
Soon after Delvey served her prison sentence and was released on Feb. 11, 2021 , ICE swept her up and put her behind bars for another 18 months for overstaying her visa.
She was then released to home confinement to her East Village apartment in October 2022 and was only allowed to leave for her then-weekly check-ins.
She has been on home confinement throughout immigration case, but she recently won her bid for loosening her restrictions. Emmy Park for NY Post
“I was great to be in the middle of things but also all I was able to do is to have people come over, and it started feeling like a zoo,” she explained. “It was fun for a bit for the first couple of months, but then it just became really taxing, especially [because] my building did not have many amenities, and it seemed like it made total sense to move upstate for a bit.”
With her ICE check-ins now being monthly and her gaining the ability to travel in the state, Delvey can carry out work for her new “pop up” fashion PR company with Cutrone called OutLaw Agency.
“I’m very excited for the fashion week. We have so many things in the works. And yeah, we’re just working nonstop. It’s the busy season,” Delvey said.
After the budding publicist gets through New York fashion week next month, she said she will look for a new Manhattan apartment that isn’t like the “prison” of her old pad where she was confined for over a year-and-a-half.
“Its a different feel to be able to leave your apartment,” Devley said of whatever new place she moves to. “I wouldn’t be moving into a new prison.”
Delvey can now travel within a 75-mile radius of her home in New York and she can use her social media again. Steven Hirsch Delvey also recently got a social security number and can now legally work in the US. Steven Hirsch
Delvey said her criminal conviction would likely negatively impact her ability to come back to the US if she were to lose her deportation case and be kicked out of the US.
And since she overstayed a visa waiver in the time before she was arrested, there would be an automatic 10 year ban on her return.
“It’s quite a difficult case and quite a challenge,” Delvey said.
“I’ve heard so many ‘No’s’ from legal teams and so many people who told me that I’m never going to get out of jail back when I was in ICE custody, and I should just stop wasting my time and stop wasting my money and go to Europe and live my life and it feels great to prove people wrong.”
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