Anna Delvey thinks she deserves a second chance

Anna Delvey thinks she deserves 'a second chance'.

The fake socialite - who was found guilty of stealing US$300,000 (S$427,000) from friends and financial institutions and attempting to steal US$22 million from a New York bank - believes she should be granted the right to remain in the US as she is entitled to 'a second opportunity' and not be sent back to Europe.

The 31-year-old convicted scammer - whose real name is Anna Sorokin - told CNN's Jake Tapper in an televised interview on on Wednesday (Oct 12): "I feel like if I were to leave and say, 'Oh, whatever, I'm just going to move on and like move to Europe', I would be like accepting the labels that they are trying to slap on me.

"I feel like I deserve a second chance. It was my mistake that I made and I served my time and I feel like I should deserve a second opportunity."

Anna admitted to being 'so happy' to be freed from the detention facility - despite being under house arrest - and be able to begin making amends for her past, which included tricking New York high society into believing she was a German heiress with a huge trust fund.

She said: "I feel like I'm getting a second chance to fix my mistakes."

Anna - whose story was made into Netflix's mini-series Inventing Anna by Shonda Rhimes, with a cast including Julia Garner and Anna Chlumsky - felt she is 'left' with the false narratives around her personality now after her stone faced appearance in court.

Anna said: "They kind of created this idea of me and I'm just being left to deal with it. I'm trying to not glamorise my crimes and not lead anybody to believe that's the way to get famous. Because I suffered a lot as a result… even though I don't always show it. I'm not going to go on TV and cry."

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At the time of sentencing, Anna - whose crimes were exposed in an article for The Cut by Jessica Pressler - firmly denied being 'sorry' for what she had done.

She said: "The thing is, I'm not sorry. I'd be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything. I regret the way I went about certain things," while maintaining she always planned on repaying her creditors, which included two Manhattan hotels, a private jet firm and a bank.

At the time of her release, her legal representatives confirmed that Anna was free.

Manny Arora said: "After 17 months of immigration detention, an immigration judge recognised that immigration detention was no longer necessary for Anna and ordered her release subject to various conditions of supervision."

John Sandweg said: "This ruling does not mean that Anna will get a free pass. She will continue to face deportation proceedings and her release will be closely monitored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State of New York.

"Nevertheless, as the court found, Anna does not pose such a risk that continued detention was necessary."

ALSO READ: Fake heiress who dazzled New York elite sentenced to up to 12 years in prison