Laura Owens, 36, the daughter of San Francisco radio personality Ronn Owens, pleaded guilty on Friday to multiple fraud charges stemming from her false claims of pregnancy with "The Bachelor" star Clayton Echard.
Owens entered a plea deal that dismissed ten of her fourteen felony charges. In exchange, she admitted to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury, and one count of taking the identity of another. She is scheduled for sentencing on October 23, where she faces probation for most counts, with the first count carrying a potential sentence of up to 12.5 years in prison.
The charges originated from a paternity petition Owens filed in August 2023 in Arizona, where she accused Echard, 33, of fathering her twins after a one-night stand. Echard denied fathering any children with Owens, stating they had romantic contact but did not engage in intercourse. Prosecutors alleged that Owens submitted a doctored sonogram and a fabricated pregnancy video in November 2023, when she testified in court that she was 24 weeks pregnant.
Shortly after the court appearance, Owens dropped her lawsuit and claimed to have miscarried. Her plea agreement addresses the fraud against Echard, which allegedly occurred between May 2023 and June 2024. The remaining charges relate to her ex-boyfriend Gregory Gillespie, whom she dated in 2021. Their shared attorney brought Gillespie into the case.
Gregg Woodnick, the attorney representing both Echard and Gillespie, stated that Owens's admission of guilt is a step toward acknowledging the harm caused to her victims and the community, and expressed appreciation for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and its investigators.
Echard previously told the Daily Mail that Owens's pregnancy claims significantly disrupted his life, asserting that she became “obsessed” with him after he ended their brief romantic involvement and then falsified the pregnancy. He claimed that after he expressed he was not interested in pursuing a relationship, Owens's demeanor changed, and she began sending him numerous angry emails and attempting to involve process servers at his workplace. Echard also alleged Owens sent him positive pregnancy tests, which he suspected were faked using HCG, a hormone sometimes used in equine care, to manipulate test results.
Echard, a realtor in Scottsdale, Arizona, who appeared on Season 26 of "The Bachelor," said he felt vindicated when prosecutors filed charges against Owens in May 2025. He commented that he felt he had encountered an exceptionally unusual individual and is focused on moving forward with his real estate career and dancing.
Owens was also accused of faking twin pregnancies and another single pregnancy following the breakdown of her relationship with Michael Marraccini in 2016. She was indicted in May 2025 on felony charges including fraud, forgery, and perjury.