A woman who faked two pregnancies and falsely claimed that the former star of “The Bachelor” was the father of one of the children was sentenced to 30 days in prison.
The sentencing in an Arizona courtroom ended a years-long legal saga that began when Laura Michelle Owens falsely claimed she was pregnant with the child of former star of the popular reality television show Clayton Ray Echard.
Owens’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
According to prosecutors, Owens, a California native living in Arizona, filed a paternity lawsuit against Echard in 2023 in order to receive alimony. The allegations made headlines long after Echard’s final episode of the season aired in 2022.
Owens, 36, later dropped the lawsuit, claiming she had a miscarriage. A judge later referred the case to prosecutors in Maricopa County, Ariz., after noticing inconsistencies in Owens’ statements.
Authorities determined that Owens had doctored an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video and lied under oath by claiming she was pregnant, according to a statement from prosecutors at the time.
The investigation led prosecutors and investigators to a second man who briefly dated Owens. When that relationship ended, Owens claimed she was pregnant, using false documents to support her claim, according to the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office.
In May 2025, a grand jury indicted Owens in Echard’s case on one count of fraud scheme, one count of forgery, four counts of perjury and one count of tampering with physical evidence. Later, in the second man’s case, he was additionally charged with perjury and fraudulent schemes, two counts of assuming another’s identity, two counts of forgery, and one count of theft by extortion.
Owens signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent scheme and subterfuge, one count of perjury and one count of assuming the identity of another. The rest of the charges were dropped.
The Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
Echard, 33, recently spoke about the case on the “Off The Vine” podcast and said he was caught off guard when Owens pleaded guilty in August.
“We just said, ‘What happened?’ he said.
Echard, who also lives in Arizona, said he believes Owens targeted him because of his appearance on the reality show and that he considered targeting local men “with more resources.”
Echard declined to comment in an email to The Times.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors alleged Owens used “psychological warfare” on the two victims, sending hundreds of text messages to support her claims that she was pregnant.
The second victim, Greg Gillespie, allegedly dated Owens three times. According to video of the sentencing hearing, Gillespie ended the relationship after the third date, but Owens reached out to her 11 days after the two had sex and claimed she was pregnant.
At one point, prosecutors alleged, Owens sent Gillespie an ultrasound image and told her she was pregnant with twins. In text messages, Owens told Gillespie that if they continued their relationship, she could decide whether to continue the pregnancy, but if they broke up, she would have the children.
On Friday, prosecutors said Gillespie became suspicious of the allegations and discovered that the ultrasound image Owens sent him was actually available online.