Anna Delvey wears an ankle monitor because an immigration judge ordered it in October 2022 as a condition of her release on a $10,000 bond from ICE custody, and the GPS device has stayed on ever since while she fights deportation from the United States. The monitor is standard equipment for ICE-supervised release, but Delvey, whose legal name is Anna Sorokin, has made hers unmistakable: bedazzled with crystals, monogrammed with an “A,” and worn openly on national television, fashion runways, and immigration court steps.
How She Ended Up on ICE Supervision
Sorokin was convicted in April 2019 of grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, and theft of services for defrauding New York banks, hotels, and acquaintances of roughly $275,000 while posing as a wealthy German heiress. Judge Diane Kiesel sentenced her to four to 12 years in prison, a $24,000 fine, and about $199,000 in restitution.1Time. Anna Delvey Sorokin Trial
She was paroled from Albion Correctional Facility in February 2021 after serving nearly all of her minimum sentence.2Today. Anna Delvey Now Six weeks later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement took her into custody for overstaying her visa. She spent about 18 months at the Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen, New York, contesting a deportation order.3CNN. Anna Delvey Sorokin
In October 2022, Immigration Judge Charles Conroy granted her release on bond, ruling that her notoriety made her flight risk “sufficiently mitigated” and noting she had “demonstrated interest in pursuing legitimate employment.”4Forbes. Anna Delvey Sorokin Granted House Arrest Amid Immigration Battle The GPS ankle monitor was one of the conditions the judge attached to that release.5New York Post. Anna Delvey Wants to Swap Ankle Bracelet for Discreet Watch
What the Bond Conditions Require
The original 2022 order was strict. Sorokin faced 24-hour confinement at her residence, weekly check-ins with the Department of Justice Enforcement and Removal Operations, random home visits to inspect her electronic devices, a total ban on social media, and the ankle monitor. She was barred from leaving for groceries, exercise, medical appointments, or job interviews, with exceptions only for medical emergencies and mandatory ICE or court appearances.6New York Post. Anna Sorokin Says Home Confinement More Restrictive Than Jail
Her legal team, led by former acting ICE director John Sandweg, challenged those terms as “exceedingly punitive” and filed a writ of habeas corpus arguing the restrictions violated her Fifth Amendment rights against “indefinite, unreasonably prolonged, or arbitrary civil immigration detention.”6New York Post. Anna Sorokin Says Home Confinement More Restrictive Than Jail Sandweg also called the social media ban “unconstitutional” and argued she had remained compliant with her parole conditions.7Business Insider. Anna Sorokin House Arrest Dancing With the Stars Ankle Monitor
The conditions have loosened in stages. In August 2024, an immigration judge lifted the social media ban and granted her the right to work in the United States, along with a Social Security number.8BBC. Anna Delvey on Dancing With the Stars By around September 2024, strict home confinement ended. As of September 2025, her travel radius had expanded to 75 miles and her reporting requirement dropped to monthly ICE check-ins.9Page Six. Anna Delvey Shows Off New Look, 40 Pound Weight Loss The ankle monitor did not come off with any of those changes.
Her Request to Swap the Device
Sorokin asked ICE to let her trade the ankle device for a “VeriWatch,” a wrist-worn GPS tracker, saying she did not want to make a spectacle of the monitor. ICE rejected the request and pointed to the judge’s order, which specifically mandates an ankle device. She said she might have her lawyers file a formal motion to change the order.5New York Post. Anna Delvey Wants to Swap Ankle Bracelet for Discreet Watch
How She Has Styled the Monitor in Public
On September 17, 2024, Sorokin debuted on Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars, performing a cha-cha to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” with partner Ezra Sosa. ICE gave her explicit permission to travel to Los Angeles on the condition that the monitor stay on at all times.10Vanity Fair. Anna Delvey and Her Bedazzled Ankle Monitor Debut on Dancing With the Stars The device was covered in crystals. Sorokin said she had asked that it be tightened so it would not dangle during the routine, and Sosa noted it weighed less than a pound.11CBS News. Anna Sorokin Convicted Con Artist Dancing With the Stars Glittery Ankle Monitor ABC’s press materials marketed her as a “notorious ankle bracelet fashionista.”8BBC. Anna Delvey on Dancing With the Stars She and Sosa were eliminated in Week 2, the first couple sent home that season, though she returned briefly for the November 26, 2024 finale.12People. Dancing With the Stars Season 33 Finale Anna Delvey Returns
The monitor kept working. During New York Fashion Week in September 2024, Sorokin participated in three shows, with some designers reportedly trying to make the ankle bracelet the centerpiece of her outfits.13People. Anna Delvey Ankle Monitor Runway New York Fashion Week In February 2025, she opened the Elena Velez Fall RTW 2025 show with the monitor visible beneath a brown leather pencil skirt dress, then walked the runway four times in the “One Night in Bangkok” showcase, closing three of the four collections.14USA Today. Anna Delvey NYFW Ankle Monitor
She has treated immigration court dates the same way. For a May 2024 hearing she wore a head-to-toe custom Shao New York look with a red letter “A” stitched on her blazer. For a June 2024 appearance she wore a cream double-breasted minidress and accessorized the monitor itself with crystals and a monogrammed “A.”15Page Six. Anna Delvey Wears a Chic White Suit Dress and Bedazzled Ankle Monitor to Immigration Court She has worked with fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone and designer Shao Yang on these appearances.16People. Anna Sorokin Accessorized Her Custom Cream Ensemble With a Sparkly Monogrammed Ankle Monitor
Sorokin has pushed back on how reporters describe the device, saying they constantly write that she is “sporting” or “flaunting” it when it is something she is legally required to wear and cannot remove.13People. Anna Delvey Ankle Monitor Runway New York Fashion Week
The Criticism
The visibility has drawn objections. Alexander Rufus-Isaacs, a lawyer for fraud victim Rachel Williams, said Sorokin’s television and fashion career amounts to “glamorising and minimising the crimes she committed, and minimising the impact on the people she hurt.” Williams herself said, “She wasn’t doing it out of some altruistic nobility, she wanted to be a part of them.” Whoopi Goldberg called Sorokin’s ability to compete on prime-time television while facing immigration charges an example of a “two-tier immigration system” that favors the wealthy. Conrad Green, executive producer of Dancing With the Stars, defended the casting to Variety, saying Sorokin had served her time and that other contestants with criminal histories had appeared on the show before.8BBC. Anna Delvey on Dancing With the Stars
Why the Monitor Is Still On
The ankle monitor stays on because the deportation case remains unresolved. Sorokin was born in Russia and later became a German citizen. Sandweg has told CNN that “there is evidence that demonstrates she would be deported from Germany to Russia and be persecuted,” framing part of the case as an asylum claim.3CNN. Anna Delvey Sorokin Another attorney, Duncan Levin, has pursued appeals of her 2019 conviction in state court, arguing that if the conviction is overturned, “there’s no basis to deport her.”17Fox 5 New York. Anna Sorokin Responds ICE Custody
As of May 2026, Sorokin remains in New York City with the monitor on while her appeal of the removal order proceeds. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said her “appeal of removal is heard” while she stays on monitored release, and added, “We look forward to sending her home soon,” accusing her of having “made a mockery of the United States court system and its immigration laws.”18Fox News. Anna Delvey Sorokin Still Posting From New York City as DHS Signals Deportation May Finally Be Coming Sorokin told Page Six in September 2025 that there is “no real update” on her case, which is being handled by a team of Washington, D.C. lawyers.9Page Six. Anna Delvey Shows Off New Look, 40 Pound Weight Loss Until the deportation fight ends one way or the other, the ankle monitor stays on.