Laura Owens sentenced to 30 days in jail over fake-pregnancy fraud targeting Bachelor's Clayton Echard

Laura Owens, 35, has been sentenced to 30 days in county jail and seven years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to four felonies in a fake-pregnancy fraud scheme targeting former Bachelor star Clayton Echard, People reported.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Rueter handed down the sentence on Friday, Oct. 23. The judge warned that violating probation could put Owens behind bars for up to 12 years, according to People.

Owens pleaded guilty in August to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury and one count of taking the identity of another. She had originally faced 14 felonies; the remaining 10 counts were dismissed under the plea deal, USA Today and the Arizona Republic reported.

Between May 2023 and June 2024, Owens ran fraudulent pregnancy schemes in which she altered an ultrasound photo, faked a pregnancy video, fabricated medical records and lied under oath during civil paternity proceedings she brought against Echard — the season 26 lead of The Bachelor and a season 18 Bachelorette contestant — and a second Arizona man, Gregory Gillespie, according to Fox 10 Phoenix and AZCentral.

At sentencing, Echard gave a victim-impact statement urging jail time, saying: “Laura will not stop until she is removed from her environment.” Owens expressed remorse, telling the court: “I pleaded guilty to four felonies, and I am profoundly, profoundly sorry.” Her parents, Ronn and Jan Owens, asked the court for leniency.