Laura Owens to be sentenced Friday in fabricated pregnancy cases involving former ‘Bachelor’ star

Laura Michelle Owens, the Scottsdale woman who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from fabricated pregnancy claims involving two men, including former “Bachelor” star Clayton Echard, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning.

The sentencing hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court is expected to take place between 9 a.m. and noon.

Owens pleaded guilty Aug. 28 to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury and one count of taking the identity of another.

Under her plea agreement, the judge can impose a sentence ranging from probation to 12.5 years in prison on the first fraudulent schemes count. The remaining three counts call for probation.

Owens was initially charged with 14 felonies. Her plea agreement calls for the remaining 10 counts to be dismissed.

What were the charges against Laura Owens?

The two fraudulent schemes charges stemmed from conduct between May 2023 and June 2024 involving Echard, the Season 26 lead of ABC’s “The Bachelor.”

Prosecutors alleged Owens altered an ultrasound image, faked a pregnancy video and lied under oath during civil paternity proceedings. The family court judge referred the matter for a criminal investigation after Owens dropped her paternity claim and said she had miscarried.

The perjury and identity theft charges involved a separate matter concerning Gregory Gillespie, a man Owens briefly dated in 2021.

The connection between the cases surfaced in part because both men shared the same family law attorney, Scottsdale lawyer Gregg Woodnick.

The case attracted widespread attention because of Echard’s celebrity and an online community that closely followed the court proceedings. The true-crime podcast “Love Trapped” also chronicled the case.

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