What do Anna Delvey, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and Griselda Blanco all have in common? They’re all infamous women who served time for crimes they committed, and whose stories went on to inspire TV shows.
Read about what they each did to earn their time behind bars and how their lives have panned out since their incarceration below.
Anna Delvey
Fraudster, conwoman, US Dancing With The Stars contestant
There was one notable accessory whizzing around the Dancing With the Stars dance floor this year – a bedazzled ankle bracelet.
Notorious conwoman Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorkin) has come a long way from a New York jail cell, where the Russian was imprisoned for almost four years following an elaborate fraud which saw her pose as a rich German heiress in order to con numerous banks, hotels and people out of substantial amounts of money.
Thanks to her social media presence, the high-profile nature of her 2017 arrest and trial, and the Netflix show Inventing Anna, which re-told her almost unbelievable story, Anna, 33, has now gained somewhat of a following. She continues to live in New York under house arrest following her prison sentence, where she’s currently in the middle of a fight against deportation.
Still, a little matter of her continued monitoring and her ankle bracelet, which she proudly showed off in still images from the DWTS set, is but a trifle for the infamous convicted con artist.
Anna says she had to get permission from authorities to take part in the show, as she’s based on the East Coast of the US, while DWTS is filmed in Los Angeles. While she knew that her casting would no doubt ruffle a few feathers – Whoopi Goldberg in particular was highly critical of the move, despite her show The View airing on the same network in the US – Anna remained unbothered.
“It’s just not that serious,” she says. “If someone is that upset about casting on a dancing show, I don’t know what to tell them.”
Anna’s already responded to Whoopi’s vocal criticism, denying that she still has to pay restitution to her victims as Whoopi accused.
“She still owes people money,” Whoopi said on-air. “I don’t understand why she gets to stay in the US!”
Anna retorted, “While you are entitled to your own opinions, you should at least get your facts straight. I served my time and paid everyone back in full three-plus years ago. Looking forward to your on-air correction. Stay nasty ladies, but don’t forget to vote.”
Anna was voted off DWTS during episode two.
Anna also has big plans for the future, such as opening a PR agency in New York that focuses on fashion – assuming she doesn’t end up getting deported.
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard
Munchausen syndrome by proxy victim, convicted of second-degree murder, mum-to-be
It was the case which shocked America to its core: the lifelong abuse of a young girl who went on to murder her abuser – her own mother.
In an unfathomable and disturbing story, the then-23-year old conspired with her online boyfriend to kill her mother Dee Dee Blanchard, who had spent the majority of Gypsy’s life subjecting her to unnecessary and painful medical treatments when, in reality, there was nothing wrong with Gypsy, now 33.
Dee Dee mentally and physically abused Gypsy for years in an attempt to convince doctors and the public that Gypsy was suffering from a plethora of illnesses, including leukaemia, muscular dystrophy, seizures and more. She was wheelchair-bound despite being able to walk, forced to take large amounts of medicine she didn’t need and was drugged to give the impression she had the mental capacity of a seven-year-old.
Gypsy, who has now been recognised as a victim of the psychological disorder Munchausen syndrome by proxy (where a parent or caregiver fakes illnesses or harms a child in order to gain attention and or sympathy) went on to commit matricide with the help of her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, who himself murdered Dee Dee.
While Gypsy is now free from prison, having served 85 percent of her 10-year sentence for second-degree murder, Nicholas is still behind bars for first-degree murder, with no hope of parole.
Gypsy was released in December last year and walked out of jail as a married woman, having wed Ryan Scott Anderson whilst still behind bars. However, they split in March of this year, with Gypsy reuniting with ex-fiancé Ken Urker, who she’d been engaged to from 2019-2022 while she was incarcerated.
“After reconnecting earlier this month, we realised that our love for each other is simply undeniable and life is too short to not take a chance,” she declared in April, adding, “We have a history that made for the perfect foundation for a new beginning. We are together and in a wonderful place in our relationship. We know it’s going to be a long road ahead but are excited for the future.”
In July of this year, Gypsy and Ken announced they were expecting a baby in January 2025. She’s also the star of Lifetime series Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up (available on TVNZ+) and says participating in the show has given her some much-needed catharsis, as well as the ability to show the world who she truly is.
She says she is also keen to travel, as soon as her parole ends and she’s able.
Griselda Blanco
Notorious drug lord, Netflix inspiration
She was responsible for the murder of all three of her husbands, killed others simply because people had “looked at her the wrong way”, was behind the vast majority of cocaine supply in Miami in the ’70s and ’80s – and her legacy inspired the Netflix series Griselda.
Griselda Blanco – the “only man” drug lord Pablo Escobar allegedly said he ever feared – was certainly a formidable figure in the murky criminal underworld. She spearheaded a ruthless Medellin Cartel and enjoyed almost two decades of uninterrupted “business” as one of Colombia’s most notorious criminals.
Bodies littered her wake as she killed without remorse or care. It’s alleged she first murdered when she was just 11 years old, after the family of the wealthy boy she’d kidnapped had refused to pay a ransom.
In control of millions of dollars during her time running her criminal empire, she escaped punishment of so many of her atrocities simply because of her gender, says Modern Family star Sofía Vergara, 52, who portrayed the “cocaine godmother” in the Netflix series.
“Because she was a woman, she was able to get away with a lot and disappear when she needed to. No one would expect a woman to be running a cartel that size,” she says. “People think a woman could never be this evil.”
But Blanco was finally arrested in 1985 and spent 20 years behind bars. She was found guilty of manufacturing, importing and distributing cocaine, as well as three counts of first-degree murder. Her empire was pulling in $4.2 million a day at its height.
During her prison sentence, three of her four sons were killed. Following release, she was deported to Colombia, where she attempted to live a quiet life and became a born-again Christian. However, Griselda was murdered in 2012 aged 69. She was shot dead by a man on a motorbike, which was the method of murder she had pioneered and became known for during her reign as a cartel head.
Her story, however, lives on and she is now more well-known in the public sphere than when she was alive. Jennifer Lopez is also expected to portray Griselda in an upcoming Hollywood feature film.
Griselda’s only surviving son, Michael Corleone Blanco has also spent time behind bars for being involved in the family business of cocaine trafficking. However, he has since turned his back on illegal activities, instead writing books and fronting television shows about his mother. He has also been asking for forgiveness on her behalf.
“Miamians have been so affected from the 1970s and ’80s cocaine cowboy wars and the crack epidemic. I’m one of the only Blancos here that can ask for apologies on my family’s behalf,” says Corleone. “I apologise to everybody who was directly affected by her actions.”
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