Laura Owens, 35, pleaded guilty Friday to four felony charges in a Phoenix courtroom, capping a years-long legal saga that ensnared former “Bachelor” star Clayton Echard, 33, and a second man in separate fake pregnancy schemes.
The Scottsdale woman admitted to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury and one count of taking the identity of another during a settlement conference in Maricopa County Superior Court. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining 10 charges against her, which included additional allegations of forgery, identity theft, theft by extortion and tampering with evidence.
Echard, who starred on Season 26 of “The Bachelor” after appearing on Michelle Young’s season of “The Bachelorette,” has maintained throughout the ordeal that he never had sex with Owens and therefore knew he could not have fathered her alleged twins. The former reality star previously described the legal battle as a fight to clear his name after Owens’s claims became public.
The criminal case against Owens expanded dramatically after prosecutors uncovered a second alleged scheme. Months after her initial indictment in May 2025, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office brought seven additional felony charges against Owens involving Gregory Gillespie, a man she briefly dated in 2021. Prosecutors accused her of using forged medical records and other women’s identities to support pregnancy claims in that case as well, including allegedly passing off another woman’s ultrasound as her own.
Judge Julie Mata had already ruled in 2024 that Owens falsified evidence and lied under oath during the paternity battle with Echard. The judge found that Owens altered or fabricated sonograms and ultrasounds, determining that no pregnancy had ever been confirmed. Mata ordered Owens to pay Echard’s attorneys’ fees and referred the matter to prosecutors for criminal investigation.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office subsequently alleged that Owens altered an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video and repeatedly lied under oath between May 2023 and June 2024.
Under the plea agreement, Owens will receive supervised probation on three of the four charges to which she pleaded guilty and must have no contact with the victims. She will also be required to pay restitution, though the amount has not yet been determined.
However, Owens could still face prison time. There is no sentencing agreement attached to one of the fraudulent schemes counts, leaving a judge to decide whether she will receive probation or prison time. If sentenced to prison on that charge, Owens could reportedly spend between three and 12 1/2 years behind bars, with a presumptive sentence of five years.
The legal drama began in 2023 when Owens filed a paternity lawsuit claiming Echard had impregnated her with twins after the two met at his Scottsdale, Arizona, home. Echard vehemently denied fathering the children. Owens later dropped her paternity claim and alleged she had suffered a miscarriage.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23.