Laura Owens sentenced to 30 days in jail and seven years of probation in fake pregnancy case tied to Clayton Echard

An Arizona judge on Friday, Oct. 23, sentenced Laura Owens to 30 days in jail and seven years of probation, nearly two months after she pleaded guilty to felony charges in two fabricated pregnancy cases. One of them involved former “Bachelor” lead Clayton Echard.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Rueter handed down the sentence, which was far below what prosecutors asked for, according to The Guardian and USA Today.

What was Laura Owens’ sentence?

According to the reporting:

In explaining the sentence, Rueter acknowledged that Owens had caused “emotional and financial harm” to multiple victims, The Guardian reported. But he said he did not think it was “the right thing” to put “a potentially mentally ill person who has committed a non-violent offense, with no prior criminal history, in prison.” “I’m not going to do that,” he said.

What did Laura Owens plead guilty to?

Owens pleaded guilty on Aug. 28 to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury and one count of taking the identity of another, KTAR News reported. She was originally charged with 14 felonies, and her plea deal calls for the other 10 counts to be dismissed.

• The two fraudulent schemes counts involve Echard and conduct between May 2023 and June 2024. Prosecutors alleged she altered an ultrasound image, faked a pregnancy video and lied under oath during civil paternity proceedings, according to KTAR.
• The perjury and identity theft counts involve a separate case concerning a man she briefly dated in 2021, KTAR said.

How the Clayton Echard case began

In 2023, Owens went to family court to establish Echard’s paternity of what she said were unborn twins, USA Today reported. She later said she had miscarried and dropped the claim. The family court judge in 2024 found that Owens had falsified sonograms and medical records and lied under oath, ordered her to pay Echard’s legal fees and referred her to prosecutors, The Guardian reported, citing the Arizona Republic and Phoenix station KPNX. Criminal charges in connection with Echard were filed in May 2025.

Echard, who was the lead of Season 26 of “The Bachelor” in 2022, has said the two never had sexual intercourse, according to USA Today.

The two cases were connected in part because both men used the same Scottsdale family law attorney, Gregg Woodnick, KTAR reported. The case drew wide attention through Echard’s fame, an online community that followed the hearings closely and the true-crime podcast “Love Trapped.”

What Laura Owens said in court

Owens apologized before she was sentenced. “I know there are people who have suffered because of decisions that I’ve made, and I want to take accountability for that,” she told the judge, according to The Guardian. “I am profoundly, profoundly sorry for the pain, distress and expense I’ve caused them.”

She also said, “I genuinely wish I had made better choices and hadn’t panicked.”

What Clayton Echard said

Echard gave a victim impact statement and asked the judge to send Owens to prison, the outlets reported.

“Laura’s been carrying out these tactics for at least ten years. She’s not sorry. She’s sorry she got caught,” Echard said, as quoted by USA Today and KTAR. “This image of fragility that she presents is calculated.”

Before the hearing, Woodnick told FOX 10 Phoenix that Echard was “exhausted by this” case and ready to move forward, USA Today reported.

FAQ