Dancing leg with ankle bracelet: con artist Anna Sorokin competes in “Let's Dance” in the USA

Dancing leg with ankle cuffs
Con artist Anna Sorokin competes in “Let's Dance” in the USA

04.09.2024, 20:48

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For years, Anna Sorokin pretended to be a German heiress and stole valuable goods from New York's high society. She was caught and convicted. Despite being under house arrest, the 33-year-old took part in the show “Dancing With The Stars”.

Will she dance to “Jailhouse Rock”? Convicted con artist Anna Sorokin is taking part in the show “Dancing With The Stars,” the US equivalent of “Let's Dance.” Sorokin has received special permission to take part in the upcoming 33rd season of the format. After all, the 33-year-old is still under court-ordered house arrest and is not actually allowed to leave her hometown of New York City.

However, “Dancing With The Stars” is being recorded in Los Angeles – also on the other side of the USA. According to the report, Sorokin's spokeswoman also confirmed that the tether actually only allows her to move within a 70-mile radius (about 112 kilometers) of her apartment in New York City. However, there are almost 2,800 miles between NYC and LA.

The exact special rules for the TV appearance were not disclosed. However, to ensure that Sorokin does not secretly dance off to another country, she will have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet during her performance, it is said. When the candidates are introduced, she will wear a sequin dress – and the ankle bracelet.

Sorokin was arrested for fraud in 2017 and sentenced to a prison term of at least four years in 2019. The accusation: she posed as the German millionaire heiress Anna Delvey and thus obtained services and goods worth over 200,000 US dollars from Manhattan's high society. This earned her the nickname “Soho Grifter”. Most recently, she found herself in US deportation detention because of an expired residence permit.

A wide range of people have become aware of Anna Sorokin's crimes thanks to the Netflix series “Inventing Anna.” The nine-part miniseries, which was released on the streaming service in February 2022, tells a fictionalized version of Sorokin's machinations. Actress Julia Garner plays Anna Sorokin/Delvey in the Netflix production, which is based on the article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People” by editor Jessica Pressler.