Laura Owens pleaded guilty to four felony charges linked to false pregnancy claims involving former “Bachelor” star Clayton Echard and another Arizona man.
Owens pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury and one count of taking the identity of another.
The charges stem from pregnancy claims involving Echard and a second man, Gregory Gillespie. The plea agreement resolves criminal allegations arising from both cases.
Owens will receive supervised probation on three of the four counts and must have no contact with the victims. She will also be required to pay restitution, although the amount has not been determined.
One fraudulent-schemes conviction carries no sentencing agreement. That leaves the judge with discretion to impose probation or prison.
According to the supplied reports, a prison sentence on that count could range from three to 12½ years, with five years listed as the presumptive term.
The legal dispute with Echard began in 2023 after Owens filed a paternity lawsuit alleging that the former “Bachelor” star had fathered twins with her. Echard denied the claim and maintained that he had never had sex with Owens.
Owens later withdrew the paternity claim and said she had suffered a miscarriage. During the 2024 family court proceedings, however, Judge Julie Mata ruled that evidence presented by Owens had been falsified and found that no pregnancy had been confirmed.
Court allegations included claims that Owens altered an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video and made false statements under oath. Mata also ordered Owens to pay Echard’s legal fees and referred the matter to prosecutors.
Prosecutors later added allegations involving Gillespie, whom Owens had briefly dated in 2021. Investigators alleged that forged medical records and another woman’s identity were used to support the pregnancy claims.
One allegation involved an ultrasound image that another woman had posted online in 2014 while discussing a twin pregnancy and the loss of one of the babies. Prosecutors alleged Owens later sent that image to Gillespie as evidence of her own purported pregnancy.
Owens is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 23. The plea agreement dismisses the remaining 10 felony charges, including allegations involving forgery, additional perjury, identity theft, theft by extortion and evidence tampering.
The case also drew attention from online commentators and was examined in the iHeartMedia and Glass podcast “Love Trapped.”
