Woman Who Faked Twin Pregnancy to Trap Reality TV Star Gets 30 Days in Jail

A Three-Year Deception Reaches Its Verdict

Laura Owens, a 36-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona woman who pleaded guilty in August to four felony counts for falsely claiming she was pregnant with former The Bachelor star Clayton Echard's twins, was sentenced on October 23 to one month in jail and seven years of supervised probation. The case, which began as what appeared to be a routine paternity dispute, ultimately exposed a calculated scheme involving stolen medical records, manufactured evidence, and brazen courtroom lies.

Prosecutors say Owens first contacted Echard on May 17, 2023, under the guise of a real estate deal. They allege the two had a brief sexual encounter on May 20, and that Owens claimed she was pregnant on June 1 — after obtaining HCG injections from a spa — before filing for paternity in August 2023. Prosecutors explained that the HCG injections were the method she used to create false positive pregnancy tests.

The Lengths of the Deception

Investigators say that between May 2023 and June 2024, Owens altered an ultrasound photo, faked a pregnancy video, and lied several times under oath. The fabrication didn't stop there. Prosecutors say Owens stole a twin ultrasound from a woman named Stormy Mitchell, who had lost one of her own twins to vanishing twin syndrome. That stolen image became a centerpiece of Owens' fraudulent claim.

Owens ultimately pleaded guilty to four felonies, including two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury, and one count of taking the identity of another. The remaining 10 charges associated with the scheme were dismissed as part of the plea deal. What started as a paternity suit in 2023 had transformed into a criminal case with four felony guilty pleas.

Echard Speaks Out — and Expresses Disappointment

The October 23 sentencing took place in Maricopa County Superior Court, where Judge Jeffrey Rueter heard Echard's plea to send Owens to prison. "I believe incarceration is an absolute must, because I know, as well as the other victims know, that Laura will not stop until she is removed from her environment," Echard said in a victim-impact statement.

Echard and other victims expressed extreme disappointment with the sentence, saying they felt manipulated and denied justice. The judge opted against prison time, citing Owens' lack of criminal history, her mental health issues, and her remorse as mitigating factors. Owens herself addressed the court with an apology. "I pleaded guilty to four felonies, and I am profoundly, profoundly sorry for the pain, distress and expense that I've caused them," she told the judge.

Probation With Serious Consequences Looming

The judge imposed 30 days of flat time plus 12 months of deferred jail starting October 22, 2027, and warned Owens she faces up to 12.5 years in prison if she violates probation. That deferred sentence is a sword hanging over Owens — any misstep in the years ahead could result in the prison term that Echard and other victims were hoping for from the outset.

The full scope of Echard's story — from the thousands of messages and emails from Owens, to the legal back and forth, to the impact on his life and career, to the other men she had also previously accused in similar schemes — was covered in depth on the podcast Love Trapped. The podcast turned a local Arizona legal story into a national conversation about pregnancy fraud, a crime that remains difficult to prosecute and even harder to prove. For Echard, the sentence may feel insufficient — but the felony convictions and years of court-mandated oversight mean this chapter of his life is far from quietly closed.