She couldn’t make it in New York, so now she’s going to have to make it in prison.
Fake heiress Anna Sorokin, who tried to scam her way to the top of New York’s social scene, was convicted Wednesday of ripping off hundreds of thousands of dollars from banks and businesses.
The jury deliberated for two days before finding her guilty on one of the two top charges of attempted grand larceny for trying to fake her way to a $22 million loan from a bank.
But she got off on the second top charge of attempting to get the same loan from a different bank.
The panel also let her slide on the charge she invited her ex-pal Rachel Williams on an all-expenses-paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $70,000 bill.
Williams subsequently sold the story of her friendship with Sorokin and their ill-fated overseas trip to book publisher Simon & Schuster and HBO for more $600,000.
Before the jury read the verdict, Sorokin, wearing a semi-sheer black dress, became teary-eyed.
The panel of nine women and three men appeared to have reached a stalemate early on, sending a note a to the judge one day into deliberations blaming a single holdout for being close-minded and hindering discussions.
But Justice Diane Kiesel repeatedly urged the jurors to keep trying to reach on a decision on the 10 counts of attempted grand larceny, grand larceny and theft of services.
The verdict capped an at times bizarre five-week trial, which was frequently delayed by Sorokin’s sobbing fits over her wardrobe.
Celebrity stylist Anastasia Walker dressed Sorokin for the proceeding in haute pieces from Yves Saint Laurent, Miu Miu and Victoria Beckham, but often had difficulty coordinating the outfit exchanges with jail officials at Rikers Island.
Defense lawyer Todd Spodek argued that Sorokin, who pretended to be a woman named Anna Delvey with a 60 million euro fortune, faked her success until she could make it.
In closing statements, he told jurors that Sorokin was no more of a fraud than iconic crooner Frank Sinatra, whose press agency paid women to swoon over him at his shows early in his career.
“Sinatra made a brand-new start of it in New York, just as Miss Sorokin did,” the lawyer said.
Spodek acknowledged that she lied about her identity to try to score a $22 million loan from two different banks to start an elite art club, but he argued that she wasn’t close enough to getting the loan to be guilty of attempted grand larceny.
In a partial win for the defense, the jury acquitted Sorokin of trying to get the loan from one of the banks.
Spodek said that Sorokin believed she’d eventually prosper and pay off her debts.
Assistant DA Catherine McCaw countered that the faux heiress tried to get the loan when she knew her art club was a pipe dream.
She said Sorokin stole $275,000 from businesses, hotels and friends to live an extravagant lifestyle she couldn’t afford and never intended to pay anyone back.
Sorokin could face up to 15 years in prison on the top count alone, but her lawyer said she’ll likely be deported to Germany before her May 9 sentencing.
Meanwhile, Netflix has partnered with TV producer Shonda Rhimes to create a series based on the fallen fraudster’s life. Netflix staffers were spotted in the courtroom during the trial.